I Promise
by tornin2
Summary: Buffy Summers' best friend, William,moved away when she was 8 years old with the promise that he would come back to her as soon as he was old enough. Now thirteen years later after she has given up hope, he returns to her life, but will they recognize eac
1. Prologue

A/N: This is my first attempt at a fanfic (not to mention the first time I have ever let anyone read what Ihave written)so all reviews good or bad are more then welcome. Also I am going to post a few chapters right away since my stories sometimes take awhile to get started so please please be patient, things will happen I promise.

Disclaimer: I do not own any of the characters in this story. All of them belong to the God Joss Whedon.

Summary: Buffy Summers' best friend, William,moved away when she was 8 years old with the promise that he would come back to her as soon as he was old enough. Now thirteen years later after she has given up hope, he returns to her life, but will they recognize each other or will they pass through each others lives without finding the one person they have longed for since their childhood.

**Prologue**

"Lizzie." He said standing in front of his best friend, on her front porch, as tears welled up in his eyes.

Elizabeth knew something terrible must be wrong. She had known William all eight years of her life and couldn't ever remember seeing him cry. "Willy what? What's wrong?"

The little boy two years older then she, stood there, unsuccessfully trying to hold back his tears. "I'm moving, Lizzie." He told her simply. "Dad said we are going far, far away and that I won't be able to see you for a long time."

"But, you can't move." She protested as she too began to cry. "You can't leave me. You are my best friend. I love you. Please don't leave." Elizabeth begged him as she threw her arms around him sobbing uncontrollably.

"I'm sorry." He told her through his own tears, holding her close to him. He didn't want to move far away. William took a deep breath and pulled away from his friend. "Lizzie, I have to go now, before my dad gets mad at me for being longer then I was allowed."

"But." She began to protest.

"I can't stay, I wish I could, but Lizzie when I am old enough I'll come back for you."

"You promise?"

"Yeah, I promise." He answered her and started on his way home.

"Then I will see you when we're older." She whispered to herself then ran into her house and up to her room where she stayed for the rest of the day.

* * *

As Elizabeth blew out the candles on her sweet sixteenth birthday cake she closed her eyes and pictured the little boy, from down the street, with the pale skin, light brown curls, and crystal blue eyes hidden behind silly glasses, and wished she could see him again. It was the same wish she had made on every one of her birthdays since her best friend had left. "You probably don't look so goofy anymore." She thought to herself. "Oh, William, you are old enough now. When are you coming back to me?" Opening her eyes she glanced at her closest friend at the party who exchanged a knowing glance with her.

Faith was the only one of her friends that knew about the little boy from eight years ago, the one that had left and taken her heart with him. She felt sorry for her best friend, but couldn't understand why she was holding on this long to a boy that she would probably never see again. She had lost some of her friends when she was younger, but had never held on to the hope that they would one day see each other again. No one had really been that important to her, except for Elizabeth. They had made a pact at the beginning of high school, that no matter what happened they would always be friends. That, no matter what happened, they would be close to each other and never move far away from the other.

"Buffy?" Faith said to Elizabeth later that night after everyone had left and they lay in the dark wrapped in their sleeping bags on the living room floor.

Buffy that was what Elizabeth was called now. Once she reached middle school she started to hate her name and wanted something that was different, she wanted a whole new life. Hopefully one in which she could surround herself with friends and not think about the one that had left her so suddenly when she was eight years old. The change had for the most part worked. By the time she was in high school she was one of the most popular girls in school, every one wanted to be her friend, but the only one that she had allowed herself to get close to was Faith, and the memories of little William still haunted her sleep.

"Do you still think that he will come back?"

"He promised that he would and he has never broken a promise to me, but I fear that as each year passes it is less likely that he will come back. Maybe he forgot about me not long after he left."

"I doubt that B. If the two of you were as close as you said you were then I don't think that he forgot about you that quickly. Look, you said that he only turned eighteen this year, give him some time to get himself on his own."

"You're right. I don't know what I was thinking. I mean, it's not like I should have expected him to show up at my front door the moment he turned eighteen."

"Just give him some time. Who knows, maybe Boy Wonder will return soon."

"Maybe." Buffy whispered closing her eyes and drifting off to dreamland.

* * *

"I need out of here Faith." Buffy cried into the telephone.

"B I told you when I left for L.A. that you should come with me, that you shouldn't let your father push you around. It's your life, not his. If you don't want to be an econ major then don't do it. Pack your shit and get out of there. I told you when I got here that Angel said he would take care of you. He still has a position open for you at the shop and a place for you to live. Come on Buff, take the offer and get out of there. Your dad doesn't have to know that you are here. Just leave."

"I, I don't think I can." Buffy stated quietly.

"That's bull and you know it. Your father does not own you and if you want to do something different with your life then do it. He has no say in it. You don't even have to tell him just pack up and leave. Hank doesn't even have to know where you are."

"But what if he finds me. You know I will have hell to pay."

"Then he will have to deal with Angel and me. You know my step brother loves you as much as he does me and wouldn't let him get to you."

"I know. Maybe I will come, but what if…" Her friend cut Buffy short.

"What if Boy Wonder comes looking for you?"

"Yeah." she replied meekly.

"Look, B it's been what, twelve years? Forget him already. If he hasn't come back by now then he isn't coming back at all. You need to start living girl. I mean you have had what, one real boyfriend your entire life, and let's face it; Riley wasn't much of a man. Girl you need to have some fun. Come on. Come out to L.A. with Angel and me. You won't regret it I promise."

"Okay" Buffy said hoping that her friend was right. "I'll start packing and as soon as I am ready to leave I will call you so you know I'm coming."

"Wicked. I'll tell Angel you're coming and he will get things set for you. It's gonna be great B."

"Yeah" Buffy agreed only half-heartedly.

* * *

"Can you believe I've been here a year already?" Buffy asked Faith as the two friends walked into Exotic Detailers together. "Time has gone by so quickly. I mean I never imagined myself working in a place like this but it's so much fun and the work is so easy."

"Yeah, Buff, never thought of you as the car detailing type."

"I probably wouldn't be, but everyone here makes the job so enjoyable. And, meeting some of the top movie stars, big plus. I am so grateful that Angel kept his offer open."

"So you don't regret leaving?"

"Not even a bit." Buffy told her friend, meaning every word. She had left two days after talking to Faith about wanting out of the life her father had forced her into and once she was settled hadn't given it a second thought.

Angel had given her a job at an auto detailing shop that he had been given by his father the year after he graduated high school. It wasn't just your ordinary detail shop, though, they catered to the high class people of Los Angeles, big time lawyers, actors, actresses, movie directors, and any one else that was looking for the right people to take care of their exotic cars. Buffy had quickly become friends with the other people that worked for Angel. They were all serious about the work that they preformed but made sure to have fun doing it. Angel paid his employees well and all of them lived rent free, including Faith and Buffy, in an old hotel that he had purchased and remodeled. Everyone had their own living quarters, but Angel had the lobby fashioned into a large living room where everyone could hang out together. One night a week Angel would rent movies and order pizza and everyone would gather together and have a good time. Angel believed that happy employees were the best employees, and Buffy was definitely happy.


	2. Chapter 1

Disclaimer: I do not own any of the characters in this story. All of these characters belong to the God Joss Whedon.

On Saturday night, all of the employees from Exotic Detailer were seated in the community living room waiting for the pizza guy to deliver their dinner so they could stuff their tummies and kick back to watch the movies Angel had picked out this week. Two of the guys from the shop were seated on a small sofa, one of them had an opened notebook and pen on his lap. "Okay so what about this one?" Oz asked pointing to a place in the book.

"Yeah right." Devon replied, "That is so stupid."

"Whatcha doing?" Buffy asked the two as she sat on the arm of the sofa beside Oz.

"Trying to pick out a new name for the band. We finally have ourselves together but we need a name." Oz told her pointing to a line on the page. "I kinda like this one, but Devon disagrees."

"Dingoes ate my Baby? Eww. I mean it's different. I…" Before Buffy had a chance to cover Angel interrupted the group.

"Excuse me everyone." Angel called out to the group catching their attention. They all respected him and stopped what they were doing to listen to what the boss had to say. "I know I usually ban all talk about work on this night but I do have an announcement to make. Tomorrow my cousin is arriving from England. He will be staying here with us and will be working at the shop. I wasn't planning on having him around, but my father has requested that I set him up for awhile to keep an eye on him. I just wanted to let you all know that he and I do not get along most of the time, but since this was my father's request I couldn't deny him a place here. Now with that said, the pizza is here so lets get to the food and the movies."

"You never told me that Angel had family in England." Buffy scolded quietly as she and Faith took their usual seats on a sofa off to the side of the room. It wasn't the best place to watch the big screen television, but the two hardly paid attention anyway. They spent most of the time gossiping and making fun of the movies Angel had picked out. Angel might have great taste in clothing and cars, but his taste in movies was pathetic. Most of the movies were about mummies, zombies, vampires, and any other popular horror movie character.

"Never thought it was worth mentioning. Besides I never met the guy. I've heard my step dad talk about him and I've answered the phone once or twice when he's called. Angel always told me that he was a jerk and he gave Angel's uncle a hard time. After the few times I answered the phone I pretty much came to the conclusion that Angel was right, he is a jerk."

"Then why does Angel have to play babysitter?"

"Don't know B. All I know is things will definitely get interesting once he gets here."

"Great." Buffy said sarcastically. "Some one to come in and disrupt our happy home."

Faith patted Buffy's shoulder lightly. "I'm sure Angel won't let him be a pain. Maybe we'll get lucky and he'll lock him in his room all night."

"Ha ha, that sounds like a plan. If Angel won't do it maybe I will. I didn't come here to be put back into a situation that I didn't like. I've been really happy here since my arrival and I don't want that spoiled."

"You really do like it here don't you?"

"Yeah I do."

Faith was silent for a moment as she pondered whether or not to say what was going through her mind. "You should tell him that."

"Huh? Who?"

"Tell my step brother that you really are happy here."

"You don't think he knows that?"

"He hears you when you say that you like it here, but I think you need to tell him how grateful you really are that you're here. I don't think he understands how much you disliked the life your father wanted you to live. Sometimes I think he believes you're only here because you needed away from your problems in Sunnydale and that you have decided to stick around because you got comfortable, not because you actually like what you are doing."

"You're probably right. I know I haven't been upfront with Angel about how I feel about being here, although I tell him every other day that I am thankful for him helping me out like this." Buffy paused for a moment thinking about what she had just said. "I guess that isn't very informative about how I feel. I'll talk to him tonight after the movies are over."

Faith nodded her head and turned her attention to the television trying to act as though she was interested in her stepbrother's choice of entertainment.


	3. Chapter 2

Disclaimer: I do not own any of the characters in this story. All of these characters belong to the God Joss Whedon.

* * *

"Angel can I talk to you for a minute before we call it a night?" Buffy asked Angel from the other side of the room as she helped him finish cleaning up after the movies were over.

"Something bothering you Buffy?" He questioned. It wasn't like Buffy to want to have a talk with him, normally she would go to Faith to talk.

"No, not really. It's just that, well, I wanted to tell you how glad I am that I'm here."

"I know. You have thanked me over a hundred times for helping you out."

"I don't mean just that."

"Then what?"

"I'm talking about the fact that I am truly happy here. I like my job, even though it wasn't something that I ever thought I would be doing. I like every one I work with, I like where I live. I feel at home here. I don't have my dad pressing me to be an econ major, to be just like him. I feel like I am part of a family here." Buffy confessed as she picked up empty beer bottles and paper plates and dropped them into a garbage bag. She wanted to add, "and I have hardly given William any thought," but she kept that thought to herself. Angel didn't know the story of her long lost childhood friend and she didn't want to discuss it. She was finally getting past all of that. And for the first time in years, when she turned twenty-one, Buffy didn't wish to see the little boy that had been her best friend.

Angel stopped wiping off one of the coffee tables in the room and watched her for a moment, surprised by what she had just told him. "Buffy" he called to her.

"Hmm," she hummed not stopping to look at him.

"Take a break and have a seat over here."

Buffy stopped what she was doing and walked over to the sofa beside the coffee table Angel had just been cleaning. She sat down and watched him as he sat on the edge of the table in front of her.

Angel leaned forward and rested his elbows on his knees. "Buffy, I'm glad to hear you say that. You know Faith and I both love you, and we would do anything for you, right? You helped Faith out so much when we first moved to Sunnydale. I remember all the trouble she was getting in because she didn't like that our parents were together and my dad moved us all away from Cleveland. She hated me until you came around and some how convinced her that I was an okay kid that it wasn't my fault that her mom married my dad, and that I didn't like it any more then she did. You brought us closer. Everyday I vowed that someday I would return the favor. Buffy, you are as much my sister as Faith is. When Faith told me how unhappy you were with the way your life was going, I couldn't turn my back on you, I just waited until you were ready to take the help I had to give."

"Oh Angel" Buffy exclaimed leaning forward and throwing her arms around his neck. "You are the bestest big brother ever."

"Yeah, yeah. Now go on up to bed. I'll finish up down here." Angel told Buffy slipping away from her hold on him.

"No. I'll help finish. I'm not ready for bed yet."

'I guess I won't argue with you. I never win anyway."

"That's what I like to hear." Buffy chirped and the two went back to their cleaning. "Angel?" She called to him a few minutes later unable to bear the silence.

"Yeah Buff."

"What's the deal with your cousin? You never mentioned you had family in England."

Angel sighed heavily. "There's not much to tell."

"Well, why is he coming here?"

"I'm not sure. My dad said he came back to the states now that his step mom passed away. According to dad he came back to meet up with an old friend, but didn't have any luck. He wanted to stay with Dad, but he decided to push him off on me instead. From what I understand all he ever did was cause a bunch of trouble for my uncle."

"Have you ever met him?"

"The only time I remember seeing him was when we were twelve, just before Dad married Faiths mom. Dad took me to England to visit. I have never seen one child cause so much trouble.

"Worse then Faith?"

"A lot worse. That's probably why Dad doesn't want him there and decided to pass him on to us. He's probably thinking that between you, Faith and myself we can get him to be something other then he is."

"Hey how did I become part of this?"

"Dad knows you are the one responsible for Faiths turn around. Maybe he thinks that you can do the same with him."

"I don't know." Buffy said plopping down on one of the chairs in the room. "Faith was a project in itself. If this guy is worse it will definitely be difficult, but I guess I can give it a shot."

"You're actually going to consider trying?"

"Why not? It will give me a challenge. I mean since I came out here there hasn't really been anyone that needed help. Maybe this is my destiny, to help the helpless."

Angel laughed at Buffy's statement. ""If you want a challenge then why don't we up the stakes a little?"

"Depends. What did you have in mind?"

"Well if you don't succeed in getting my cousin to change his ways then you owe me dinner. Not just any dinner, though, I want you to make me dinner."

"Are you kidding me? You know I don't cook."

"You don't cook only because you don't like to."

"Fine, but if I succeed you have to detail my car. And I'm not talking about taking it to the shop and letting the others do it. I want you to do it yourself."

"It's a deal." Angel agreed with her part of the challenge

"Maybe I should head off to bed then. It sounds like I am going to have my work cut out for me starting tomorrow. I'll see you in the morning Angel. Goodnight."

"Goodnight, Buffy."

"Oh, and Buffy, good luck with my cousin. If you can get through to him then any one after him should be easy."

"Well that's encouraging." Buffy replied sarcastically as she got up from where she was sitting and headed for her room.

* * *

A/N: Thanks to all of you who are still reading. Please let me know how I am doing! 


	4. Chapter 3

Disclaimer: I do not own any of the characters in this story. All of these characters belong to the God Joss Whedon.

* * *

Buffy rolled over in her bed and squinted through half closed eyes at the alarm clock on her night table. "Eleven thirty." she mumbled to herself sitting up "I really need to get out of bed." She crawled out of bed with a groan and made her way to the bathroom where she brushed her teeth and untangled her long blond hair.

When she left her apartment she could hear some one arguing downstairs. As she got closer to the staircase she heard Angel's voice and the voice of some one with a heavy British accent, whom she could only assume was Angel's cousin.

"Look, I thought we came to the agreement that I would call you Spike if you stopped calling me Angelus." She heard Angel growl.

"Oh I know, how about Captain Forehead?"

"Yeah and I could call you Captain Peroxide."

Buffy stood at the top of the staircase and giggled at the two grown men as they continued to argue. She decided to observe Angel's cousin from there, where she was out of sight, before making her way downstairs. "So you're Angel's cousin." She whispered to herself as she continued to watch the bleach blond man argue with Angel. "This could be tough." Buffy thought as she analyzed the new comer. His back was to the stairs but she didn't have to get a good look at him to know that he thought he was the biggest bad boy around. Just the way he carried himself and the long leather coat he wore was enough to tell her that. That's when she realized that the only way she would be able to break him was to be a bigger bad then he was.

Buffy made her way down the steps still only dressed in her baby blue silk pajama's. Angel saw her coming and tried to tell her, with a look, to change direction and head back the way she had come from. He wasn't ready for Buffy to meet the man she had decided that she was going to try to change.

Too late. Spike had noticed his cousin's sudden interest in something behind him and turned to see what it was. He was surprised to see the petite blond woman with the large hazel eyes step off the last stair. Spike watched her as she walked past him barely glancing at him. This caught him off guard. Normally the women were drooling over him.

Buffy shot a passing glance at the stranger. She didn't want him to get the impression that she was checking him out. "Yep," she thought, "all that black attire definitely cries out bad boy. Too bad the Billy Idol look went out ages ago." Standing between the two men her back to the blond she turned her attention to Angel. "So, Angel, honey, who's the Billy Idol wannabe?" She asked in a voice that was filled with disgust. Spike caught the tone immediately.

"Buffy this is my cousin Spike. Spike this is Buffy." Angel made the introduction unwillingly.

"This your girl Angel?" Spike asked his gaze fixed on the back of the woman who had interrupted their argument.

"That's none of your business." Buffy replied, not looking at him before Angel had the chance to answer him truthfully.

"Seems you got yourself a feisty one there mate. You best keep an eye on her. I reckon she'll run off before long if you don't."

Buffy finally turned to look at Spike, hate and disgust clear on her face. She had meant to turn to him and tell him what she thought of him, but when she finally got a good look at him she faltered for a moment and she knew he had noticed. "Excuse me." She requested weakly and headed back up the stairs and straight to her room.

* * *

Spike watched her as she fled the room. There was something oddly familiar about that girl, but he wasn't sure what. He was sure he didn't know her. He had never met any one by the name of Buffy, but there was still something disturbing about her. He wanted to talk to this girl. There was something calling out to him and he wanted to know what it was. For a moment he thought about going after her, then he remembered his cousin standing there and he knew that Angel wouldn't let him. He knew Angel was overly protective of everything around him. Spike had learned that many years ago when his uncle and Angel had come to visit him. Angel had made it obvious that he didn't want Spike to touch anything of his. Then on the car ride from the airport today, Angel had stressed it again. This was Angel's place, Angel's business, Angel's friends, and Spike was not a welcome addition to his perfect little world.

Angel had watched Buffy as her attitude towards his cousin did a complete turn around. He watched her as she quietly excused herself and made a beeline for her room. It wasn't like her to fumble like that, for some one to affect her the way Spike had. He noticed Spike also staring after her as she had left the room, and he caught the interest the blond man had in the woman who was almost like his sister. "Spike" Angel warned, "I'm going to tell you this once and only once, unless Buffy says otherwise stay away from her."

Spike turned to the dark haired man to say something, but as he did Angel walked passed him and ran up the stairs in the direction the blond woman had gone.

* * *


	5. Chapter 4

Disclaimer: I do not own any of the characters in this story. All of these characters belong to the God Joss Whedon.

* * *

Most of the occupants of the hotel turned apartment building left their doors open. They thought of each other as family and saw no reason to shut each other out. The only time any one would close the door to their living quarters was when they had company or didn't want to be bothered.

Angel sighed in relief when he reached Buffy's open apartment door. "That's a good sign." He thought to himself as he crossed the threshold into the living room in search of its occupant. "Buffy?" He called out to her looking around the tidy room and at the kitchenette to his left. The blond he was in search of was nowhere to be seen and she hadn't answered him when he called for her. "Buffy?" He called out to her again as he made his way through the living room to the doorway on the far right side of the room.

"Nice job, Buffy," She told herself as she fell back on to her bed. "You totally flopped on that one." All it had taken was a fraction of eye contact and she broke right there in front him. Buffy closed her eyes and pictured the eyes of the man she had just met. She never thought that she would ever see crystal blue eyes like that again. They were the kind of eyes you could see forever in. Eyes, just like William had. She tried to picture the friend she had lost so many years ago, but all she could see was the outline of a little boy and the same blue eyes she had just seen on the face of the man downstairs. It had been a long time since Buffy had thought about him, but the memory of him still pained her. Silently she cursed herself for making that bet with Angel the night before knowing that it was going to be much harder now that she would also have to deal with the memories from her childhood.

"Buffy?" Her eyes snapped open once Angels voice had finally made it through her thoughts. She looked at the opening to her living room and saw him standing there leaning against the doorframe.

"Hey." She replied propping herself up on her elbows. "What's up?"

"I was hoping you could tell me. What just happened downstairs?"

Buffy fell back down on to the bed and sighed. "It's a long story."

"Care to talk about it?" Angel asked stepping into the room and walking over to sit on the edge of her bed.

"Not really."

"Come on Buff. Whatever the deal was down there you can tell me."

"It's nothing really. Your cousin just reminded me of some one from my past. Some one that I haven't seen in a long time."

"Did this person hurt you?"

"I guess that depends on how you look at it. He was my best friend, but he moved away. When he did he took part of me with him. It took me a long time to stop thinking about him. Actually, it took me until I moved here with you and Faith. I used to wish every year on my birthday that he would come back. This past year was the first time I didn't do that."

"Buffy, if you want we can call our bet off. I don't want you to be uncomfortable."

Buffy glanced at Angel. His back was to her, his elbows rested on his knees. "No. I want to do this." She said to her own surprise. "I wasn't sure at first, but I can't let my past haunt me. Maybe this is just what I need to get through all of that for good."

"Great. I can't wait for you to have to play chef." Angel told her. She could hear the smirk in his voice. Buffy picked up one of the pillows off her bed and flung it at the back of Angel's head. "Hey!" He yelped getting up from where he was sitting. "You better watch it or I am going to have to up the stakes."

"No that's okay, really." Buffy replied trying to sound appalled at the suggestion while she stifled a giggle.

"Well I should leave you to get your plan together." Angel told her as he picked the pillow up from where it had landed on the floor. "Although, I should tell you that if you want to get his attention just traipse around in what you're wearing. It seems to have worked so far." Before Buffy could respond to his comment he chucked the pillow back at her and walked out of the room.

"Angel you are going to be in so much trouble." She mumbled after him as she got up from the bed and went to get dressed.

* * *

Buffy exited her apartment wearing a pair of low cut jeans and a black halter top with black high heeled boots. She let her long gold locks fall freely down her back and around her shoulders. As she made her way down the hall towards the staircase she had the feeling that some one was watching her. Buffy glanced over her shoulder and there at the end of the hall stood Angel's cousin. He was leaning against the doorframe to one of the apartments watching her as she walked down the hall. Buffy cast him a small smile and continued down the hall. "Wait, Buffy" She heard him call after her. Buffy stopped but didn't turn around to look at him. She could hear the sound of his footsteps as he approached her. Within a few seconds he was by her side and she started walking again.

Spike had seen her as she emerged from her apartment. At first he was going to just watch her as she walked down the hall following his cousins instructions to stay away from her, but when she had turned and smiled at him, he couldn't resist trying to talk to her. He called for her to wait and to his surprise she had stopped walking, however, he wasn't sure if that meant that she was welcoming him to join her since she hadn't turned around when she had stopped. It didn't matter to him, he wanted to talk to her. "Buffy, I just wanted to apologize to you, for what I said earlier. If I offended you…"

"You didn't." She cut him off coldly wondering why he even bothered to make amends. After all Angel and Faith had both told her that Spike was nothing but a jerk. Buffy had a feeling that he was up to something.

Spike wasn't sure what to say. "Is there something that you wanted?" Buffy asked him when he didn't reply.

"Um, no I guess not. I just wanted to make sure that I wasn't the one that caused you to run away and if I was I wanted to apologize."

"Well you don't have to worry about your guilt. It wasn't your fault."

"I wasn't worried about me feeling guilty. I just wanted to make sure that you were okay." Spike told her. After the words came out of his mouth he wondered what had made him say that. Normally he didn't care how any one felt. His main concern was usually himself.

"I'm fine." Buffy told him as they descended the staircase. "Now if you'll excuse me I have better things to do."

"Yeah, of course." Spike replied stopping where he was to watch her as she walked away from him. He had noticed that she hadn't bothered to look at him and the tone of voice she had used with him was cold and uncaring. "That girl is going to drive me mad." He thought to himself as he headed back up the stairs.

* * *

"So I see you met Angel's cousin." Faith said to Buffy when she came to sit beside her on the sofa in front of the television in the lobby.

"Yeah. He's a real piece of work." She replied watching the television.

"What makes you say that?"

"Well let's see. The first time I saw him I came prepared to fully dislike the guy and give him nothing but attitude. However, I ended up running off with my tail tucked between my legs. Which is why he was just talking to me now. For whatever reason he was attempting to be concerned about what had happened."

"And what exactly did happen?"

"Nothing really. We had a bit of a squabble and when I finally turned to face him I caught his eyes and I fumbled. I knew he noticed it so there was no use continuing. I retreated to my place to lick my wounds."

"It's not like you to back down B. Is it possible that you have finally met your match?" Faith proposed trying to recall the last time Buffy had backed away from an altercation.

"No. I haven't met my match." Buffy defended herself with a roll of her eyes. "He just caught me off guard."

"You mean those gorgeous blue eyes caught you off guard." Faith teased. She had met Spike when Angel asked her to show him to his apartment after he had talked to Buffy. Faith couldn't help but fall in love his eyes.

"I never said they were gorgeous. They just, well, those were the same eyes that William had."

"Buff, come on girl, don't tell me you are going to start to dwell on Boy Wonder again."

"No. No dwelling of any kind. I already decided that he is never coming back. I should have never believed he would." Buffy admitted standing up turning to look at Faith. "I think I am going to go up to my place. I have some cleaning to get done. If you want, stop by later."

"You sure you're okay B?" Faith asked her as she turned towards the steps.

"Yeah. I'm fine. I just have some things to take care of." Buffy answered without turning around.

"Okay. Maybe I will stop in later I have some errands to run first." Faith watched as Buffy disappeared from her sight. She knew Buffy had lied to her about being fine, but she let her go. Faith knew she liked to have time to herself when some thing was troubling her. Eventually Buffy would come to her and want to talk.

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A/N: Thanks to all of you have kept on reading. This is the last chapter that I will be posting for tonight. Be sure to let me know what you think, even if it isn't any good.


	6. Chapter 5

A/N: I would like to thank everyone who has reviewed you are so kind and encouraging. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Oh and to answer the question posed to me by BuffyandDracoLover about Buffy's dad, if you keep on reading I promise you will get your answer in a few chapters. As for now here is the new chapter.

Disclainer: I do not own any of these characters they all belong to the God Joss Whedon.

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"Hey Buffy" The voice jolted her out of her thoughts and made her jump. She had been deep in thought about William and hadn't seen the man standing at the top of the stairs. She glanced to her left where the voice had come from. 'Great' she thought to herself 'This guy is really starting to get on my nerves.' "Gee, Spike, lurk much?" She asked him turning to her right to go to her rooms.

Spike pushed himself away from the wall he was leaning against and followed her down the hall. "I wasn't lurking. I was standing here, waiting for you."

"Oh, so that makes it different?"

"Yeah."

"So, you're a stalker?"

"No. Just want to talk is all."

Buffy cast a quick glance at him. "Why don't you go talk to some one else? I'd rather be left alone."

"Well, I would, but no one else seems to want me around."

"I don't want you around either." Buffy replied in matter of fact tone.

"Yeah, I picked up on that when we first talked downstairs, but unlike every one else that doesn't want me here, you at the very least answer me when I say something to you. The rest of the bloody lot barely nods their head in response."

Buffy and Spike had come to the doorway of her apartment and stopped walking. Buffy turned so that she faced him, but avoided looking directly at him. Even without looking at him she could feel him watching her closely.

"Maybe you haven't annoyed them enough yet." She suggested, trying to hint to him that he was annoying her.

"So I'm annoying now am I?" Spike asked, a smirk on his face.

"As a matter of fact, yes, you are." Buffy told him as she finally made eye contact with him. Her heart skipped a beat as she let herself get lost in his eyes for a brief moment. "I, um, I should go." She said blinking herself back to reality.

Spike noticed the change in her again. She had done the same thing before when they had made eye contact. He wasn't sure what to make of her reaction. "Do you have to?" He asked sounding disappointed. Spike scolded himself, he hadn't meant his question to sound so pleading. 'What the hell is wrong with me? Why do I care if she wants to go?'

Buffy noticed the disappointment in his voice and for a second she thought about changing her mind, but when she made eye contact with him again she thought of William and knew she needed time to herself. "Why do you care? Isn't there some place else you can go? Maybe some place where you aren't a thorn in every ones side that lives here."

Her outburst caught Spike off guard and it took him a moment to gather himself back into the ruthless man he normally pretended he was. It was the easiest way to keep himself from getting hurt again, from letting people get in. "Bloody hell, woman. What is your problem? The only reason I'm a thorn in anybody's side is because Peaches makes me out to be that way."

"Peaches?"

"Yeah. You know, your beau, Angel?"

"First of all Angel is not my beau. Second of all if you aren't what he says you are, then why do you insist on bothering me?" Buffy waited for a response but got nothing. "Hello? Spike? You wanna answer my question?"

"Huh?" Spike said snapping out if his daze. His thoughts had lingered on the fact that Buffy was not involved with his cousin as she had previously led him to believe.

"I asked you, if you aren't like Angel says you are, then why do you insist on making a pest of yourself? Why can't you just leave me alone when it is obvious that I don't like you?"

"You want to know why?" Spike retorted raising his voice wondering why he was going to tell her the truth. "How about because I don't know any one here, or even in this country any more for that matter. I was ripped away from every one I knew years ago. I came back looking for some one from my past that I had to unwillingly leave behind, but I had no luck. So now I am stuck here with Angel until I can get myself together to get out of this soddin' place. I am trying to make friends here, which I can't because Peaches has badmouthed me to every one. You are the only one that seems willing to respond to me. Yeah maybe you aren't being nice about it and you act like a stupid bint but it's better then being alone." He paused and took a deep breath trying to calm down. He hadn't meant to get worked up. Spike tried to read the expression on Buffy's face but she refused to look at him. "I'm sorry, I got worked up, I didn't mean to call you names." He said softly trying to apologize.

Buffy wasn't sure what had happened. They had been having a conversation, even if it hadn't been a nice one, but it had been conversation. The next thing she knew Spike was yelling at her, calling her a stupid bint, whatever that was, and she felt hurt. "I should go." She whispered and turned to walk into her apartment.

"No, Buffy, wait. Could you please just give me a chance? There's something else I have to say." He begged her not to go.

"Is everything okay?" Came a voice from behind the two blonds. They both turned to see Oz standing there, as usual no expression upon his face. "It sounded like there was some yelling and I thought I better check it out before Angel did."

Buffy gave him a weak smile. "It's okay Oz. We were having a little spat, but nothing to worry about. We'll try to keep it down."

"You sure?"

"Yeah it's good. Sorry if we disturbed you."

"It's okay. I just didn't want the boss to hear it. You know one of you would have hell to pay if he had come up here." He replied casting a glance in Spike's direction knowing that he would have been the one that would have had to deal with the wrath of Angel. Oz gave a nod to the two of them and walked back in the direction of his room.

When Spike turned around he saw Buffy walking through the doorway into her apartment. "Buffy, before you go can I please say just one thing?"

Buffy stopped just inside the living room and turned to face him. She watched him standing there watching her, but said nothing. She was still stunned from what Spike had told her in the hallway. Maybe Angel was wrong about his cousin, maybe he wasn't as bad as he said he was. He was here in America because he had lost a friend and had hoped to come back to find them. He hadn't succeeded in his search and now he was stuck here with no friends, an uncle that didn't want to help him, and a cousin who did everything to make him miserable because they didn't get along. She started to feel sorry for him and the front she had been putting up slowly started to fade away.

Spike saw something in her eyes change. They seemed to soften. He felt guilty for yelling at her, for taking his frustrations out on her, when she wasn't responsible for anything that had happened to him. "Buffy, I…"

She cut him off before he could finish. "You don't have to stand in the hallway, Spike. You can come in if you'd like. It might be better anyway, you know with the yelling and all at least I could close the door to help muffle the noise." Buffy stepped to the side to allow room for Spike to enter her living area, but he didn't move towards the door.

"I don't know if that's such a good idea. Angel might…"

"Don't worry about him"

"I just, I don't want to be more of a pest then I have been since I've been here."

"Would you just get in here? You are the one that had something else to say. You are the one that wanted to make friends here. How do you expect to accomplish this if you are going to just stand there while I am in here?"

"Are you sure that you are okay with this?" Spike asked as he stepped in to Buffy's apartment. She closed the door behind him and gestured to the sofa in the middle of the room.

"I'm sure. Make yourself at home. Would you like something to drink? I could make coffee or there might be soda in the fridge." Buffy walked to the kitchenette and opened the refrigerator door as Spike took a seat on the sofa.

"Actually, I'm okay. Thank you anyway."

Buffy took out a bottle of water and closed the door. "You sure?" She asked as she made her way over to where he was sitting. He just nodded his head as she sat down on the opposite end of the sofa and tucked her feet up under her.

"Buffy" Spike said before she had a chance to say anything "I just wanted to tell you that I am sorry for yelling like that. None of that was your fault."

"It's okay, honestly. Why don't we start from the beginning, erase the slate, and try again?"

"I like the sound of that. Shall I start?" He asked filled with hope that things were going to get better.


	7. Chapter 6

A/N: Here's the next chapter. It took some time deciding on how to write this chapter. I wrote about 3 or 4 different variations until I settled on this one so I hope it was worth it. Please read and let me know what you think.

Disclaimer: No I don't own any of the characters they of course all belong to Joss the God of the Buffy Universe.

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"Okay then, hey, the name's Spike." He said as though he were introducing himself to her for the first time. Buffy rolled her eyes at his name. "What?"

"Well, it's just that I hope that isn't your real name." Buffy teased him.

"Why? What's wrong with it?"

"What isn't wrong with it? I mean it makes you sound all evil and like you belong to a gang or something."

"Maybe I am evil and I do belong to a gang." He told her trying to sound serious, but he couldn't keep a smile from forming on his lips.

"Well if that's the case, then maybe I don't want to talk to you anymore." Buffy was slightly more successful at keeping a straight face then he had been.

"Okay. Okay. I take it back."

"Good. So do you have a real name?"

"Yeah."

"And it would be?"

"Sorry Goldilocks, but that is one secret that I don't intend to share."

"Fine." Buffy said folding her arms across her chest and sticking out her lower lip to pout, but Spike had stopped watching her so it went unnoticed. Buffy shrugged it off and brought the conversation back to what Spike had started. "Okay, so my turn. Hi _Spike_," She said his name as though she were disgusted by it, but Spike had picked up on the teasing tone that was hidden underneath it. "My name is Buffy."

Spike cast her a devilish grin. "So tell me, is that _your_ real name?"

"And just what is wrong with my name?"

"Nothing, just sounds like one of those names the rich folk give their daughters. You know like Muffy or…"

"Oh come on. That is so not true." She cut him off.

"If that's what you believe. Are you from that sort of high society?"

"No I am not. If you must know, Buffy is not my real name. And don't you dare ask what it is because I'm not telling you. You didn't want to share so neither do I."

"I suppose that's fair."

After making fun of each others name the two blonds sat in uncomfortable silence wondering what to say next. Spike spoke first asking the only thing he could think of. "So, how long have you known my cousin?"

Buffy thought for a moment, trying to remember when she had met Faith and Angel. She felt as though she had known them all her life. "About eight or nine years. Not long after I started junior high."

"So you moved here from Cleveland too?"

Buffy smiled lightly. She was amazed that Spike had either been left out on the happenings of his family, or he just hadn't cared enough to remember. "Actually, I met them when they moved to Sunnydale. That's where I grew up. I moved here about a year ago." Buffy noticed Spike hold his breath for a moment when she mentioned the name of her hometown. She assumed it was because he hadn't known Faith and Angel had lived there, so she didn't bother to ask him what was wrong.

"Why did you leave Sunnydale?" He asked her suddenly very interested in the small blonds past.

"It's sort of a long story. I guess to cut things short I wasn't happy with my life. My dad was forcing me to be something that I didn't want to be, so I packed up and skipped town. Angel and Faith had kept telling me to leave and come here. After almost two years I finally took their offer to give me a place here."

"You didn't tell anyone where you were going?" Spike wondered, wanting to know everything about her. From the moment he had seen her he felt there was something familiar about her and now as he listened to what she told him he began to know why.

"No one. I packed my stuff and left. The only thing I did was leave a note on the bed in my dorm room that said I'm sorry Daddy, but I don't want this."

"Do you think he has tried looking for you?"

"I don't know. If he has, he never found me and that's probably a good thing. After my mom died he became a control freak. I was allowed to do only what he saw fit. He wouldn't even let me go off to college unless I majored in what he wanted me to, or I had to find a way to pay for it myself."

"You don't think that after this much time he would be happy to just know that you were okay."

"It doesn't matter. I am happy here and I don't want to risk that by telling him where I am." Buffy replied with a shrug of her slim shoulders.

Spike shook his head in disbelief. How could she not care? The man that he had talked to the day before when he had knocked on the door of Elizabeth's old house had been worried about his little girl. He had told him how she had left leaving only a note telling him she was sorry. He knew it was his fault. All he wanted was to know that she was safe. He told Spike that if he found his daughter to tell her that he was sorry and that he would really like it if she would call him to let him know she was okay. Suddenly Spike didn't want to talk to her anymore. Her story was too close to the one Hank had told him, there had been something familiar about her from the very beginning, and now it all pieced together. There was no doubt in his mind that this was Elizabeth. "I'm sorry, but I have to go." Spike told her standing up and heading towards the door that led out into the hallway. "I have something that I have to go deal with."

"Wait, Spike, is there something wrong?" She asked getting up to follow him.

"No, I just, I have to go make a phone call." He yanked the apartment door open and stepped out almost bumping into Faith who side stepped quickly enough to avoid a collision.

"Hey there man, what's the hurry?" She called after him watching him walk down the hall towards the stairs as though he hadn't even noticed she was there.

Spike hadn't heard her. His head was filled with thoughts of the woman he had just talked to. He had come back for her as he had promised he would, only now he wasn't sure if it was even worth it. She had treated him like dirt, like he was beneath her, and in the past year she had treated her father no differently. He could feel the anger flaring up in his chest, or was that what his heart breaking felt like. The last time he had felt like this was when he had left her on her porch as they both cried. By the time he had turned thirteen he had pushed past the pain, but had refused to ever let any one into his heart again. Now thirteen years later he was feeling the pain of her again.


	8. Chapter 7

"So what was that all about?" Faith asked Buffy as she leaned against the doorframe of her apartment.

"I don't know. We were talking about why I left Sunnydale and the way that I had left and then he got all serious and stormed out of here saying something about a phone call."

"I wasn't just talking about his quick and reckless exit, I was also talking about the fact that Angel's cousin was in your apartment in the first place."

"Boy is that ever complicated to answer." Buffy admitted as she sat back down on the sofa. "He kept bothering me, lurking about, waiting to try to talk to me. It was as though he were stalking me or something. I'm not really sure I even understand why he was doing it. He told me that it was because I was the only one that would respond to anything he said. The next thing I know we are standing out in the hallway and he was yelling at me as if it were my fault that his life was sucking at the moment. That's when Oz showed up to make sure everything was okay before your stepbrother heard the yelling. The next thing I know I am inviting him in. We had a normal conversation, started over from the beginning, and then, well you saw what happened."

"Angel and I told you he was trouble B. All though, trouble or not you have to admit, he is way hot."

"Faith!" Buffy exclaimed shocked that her friend was admitting that to her.

"Oh come one Buff. You can't tell me that his lean muscular body and chiseled face aren't just drop dead sexy. Oh, and don't forget about those eyes. Didn't they catch you off guard earlier today?"

"Faith stop it." Buffy demanded with a giggle. She knew her friend was teasing her. "Is there something that you wanted?"

"Actually I was coming to see if you wanted to join me on a shopping excursion? Angel asked me to go pick some things up for the lunch room at the shop."

Buffy thought for a moment. She had originally wanted to spend time alone, but now she felt she needed a distraction. "What the heck. Count me in." Buffy agreed pushing the thoughts of Spike and William out of her mind. She got up from her seat, went into her bedroom and grabbed her purse before following Faith out of the apartment.

Spike stepped out into the sticky late afternoon air. He wasn't sure where he was going, all he knew was that he needed out of that building and as far away from her as possible. Thoughts were still flooding his mind as he walked down the sidewalk trying to figure out what had happened to the girl he had left so many years ago. Lizzie had loved her family and would never have thought of hurting them the way she was now. "I should call Hank and tell him I found his daughter." He whispered to himself thinking of how happy it would make him to know that his daughter was okay. "No, that's not my place. She should call him." But Spike knew in the back of his mind that Buffy would never call him, that she was only worried about what she wanted and didn't care who she hurt as long as she was happy.

He thought back to the day that he had told her he was leaving. Elizabeth had been upset and had begged him not to go. He didn't want to, he wished he could have stayed.

William had come home from school that day to find a moving van in the driveway at his house. When he walked through the front door his father had met him in the foyer to give him what had been the worst news he had ever gotten. "Something has come up." Rupert had told his son. "We are leaving first thing in the morning. I need you to go finish packing your things, Jenny has already started for you."

"Leaving? What do you mean leaving? Where are we going? When are we coming back?" William had asked his father as his stepmother came into the room.

"Oh, William, you are home." Jenny exclaimed when she saw him. "I packed most of your clothes, books, and toys. Try to get the rest finished by tonight. If you need help honey just let me know and I will see what I can do." He had liked his stepmother. She had always treated William as though he were her own son.

"Could some one please tell me what is going on?" William pleaded with the two adults.

"William, we are moving far away. We aren't going to be coming back."

"What do you mean, moving? I don't want to move. All of my friends are here. Please. You can't make me do this. What about Lizzie? I can't just leave her. If I go and don't tell her she will never forgive me."

"Fine. You may go and tell Elizabeth that you are moving. I expect you to be back here in twenty minutes. Once you are back I want you to go straight to your room and finish packing."

As he walked back to his house after talking to Elizabeth, the words she had said to him played over again and again in his mind. "I love you."

Spike had never forgiven his father for taking him away from his best friend and the life he had known. He had also never forgiven himself for not telling Lizzie that he loved her. He had told her he would be back when he was older, but he never told her how he had felt about her. At the time he might have only been ten but he knew that his best friend was special and that he would never be able to forget her. Now as he walked into the first bar he had come across he wished that he had forgotten about her. After the way she had treated him and the things she had said about her father he had decided that she was not worth the pain he was going through again and he was going to put a temporary stop to it by drowning himself in whiskey.

"So what exactly are we here for anyway?" Buffy asked Faith as they walked into the local grocery store.

"According to Angel the cabinets and the fridge in the lunch room are getting low. He gave me the company credit card and told me to stock up on everything." Faith replied pulling the plastic card out of the back pocket of her jeans and waving it in front of Buffy.

"Well I suppose that's what we'll do."

Faith and Buffy walked up and down the aisles putting various items in the shopping cart Faith was pushing. "So do you think Spike will eat any of this stuff?" Faith asked as she helped Buffy unload the items from the cart onto the belt at the cahiers station.

"Faith we bought practically every kind of chip, soda, and lunch meat there is. Not to mention the other dozen bags of snack foods we got." Buffy paused for a moment. It was odd that Faith had thought about what Spike would eat. "What's it matter anyway? It's not like he plans on sticking around. If he doesn't like what we have then he will just have to fend for himself. He isn't part of our family here. Wait, I take that back, he is family, but you know what I mean."

Faith gave Buffy a confused look. "I thought the two of you were cool? Why the hate trip?"

"It's not a hate trip. I just don't see what the concern is. I doubt he will be around for long. He told me that he was only going to be here long enough to get himself together then he was going to leave."

"Sounds to me like you don't want him to go."

"What?"

"Think about what you were just saying girl. I'm telling you that sounded a lot like you were upset about the fact that he isn't sticking around."

"I'm not upset." Buffy protested. "I just don't understand why we have to worry about making him comfortable if he isn't planning on staying and no one wants him to be here anyway."

"You really do like him don't you?"

"Faith!"

"Oh, come on B. Admit it. You like him. You don't have to lie to me about it. It's not like I am going to run off and tell every one."

"Fine. Yes, I like him. When I first met him, he was a jerk and I didn't want anything to do with him, but that was my fault. I was rude to him from the very beginning and I guess I deserved to be treated that way. Now, that I have gotten to know him, he really isn't that bad. I don't know why Angel says he is." Buffy admitted as Faith signed her name on the electronic screen for the credit card purchase and they walked out of the store.

The car ride to Exotic Detailer was made in silence. When the two girls reached the detail shop Faith unlocked the back door to the building then turned off the alarm and switched on the lights. She glanced around the open building at the cars that were sitting there waiting to be picked up or that had been dropped off on Friday afternoon to be detailed sometime this week. "You gonna help unload this stuff or are you just going to stand here staring at the work we have to do this week?" Buffy asked her as she walked through the door her hands full of bags from the store.

"I was just checking to make sure that everything was okay. The last thing we need is to come in here and find some big shots car missing."

"They're all here Faith. If any one tried to steal any of these cars the building alarm system would have gone off as soon as they tried to get in through the door."

"I know, I just had to be sure." Faith said as she turned and walked out the door to get some of the bags from the trunk of her car. "It's because Spike had become rebellious after he was moved to England from the States. Angel's uncle asked Dad to bring him to visit hoping that maybe the two of them would get along and Angel could get Spike to realize things weren't as bad as he made them out to be, in the hopes that Spike would stop causing so much trouble." Faith said after a bout of silence as they unpacked the remaining items from the grocery bags.

"What are you talking about?" Buffy asked pausing from loading sodas into the refrigerator.

"You said earlier that you didn't know why Angel said Spike was so bad." Faith explained. "I don't know all of the details from Angel's visit. All I know is that the two of them did not get along well. Angel told me that things didn't go well. Spike had been pushy and destructive. He didn't want anything to do with Angel other then to make his stay in England miserable."

"But why? There had to be something that made him not want to be friends with his cousin."

"Angel thinks it had to do with him living in the States and something about him being jealous over him moving to Sunnydale. From what I got out of the story Spike used to live in Sunnydale."

"Spike lived in Sunnydale?" Buffy questioned closing the door to the fridge. This had gotten her attention.

"That's what I got out of it. Apparently Spike had been born there and his father and stepmother had moved him away from his friends and the life that he had loved. He took it pretty hard and from the moment they arrived in England he started to cause trouble sort of like a pay back to his father for making him move there."

"Why hasn't Angel mentioned this before? He never told me that he had family that had lived in Sunnydale before you guys moved there."

"I guess it was because Angel didn't care for his cousin. Once he was back from England he basically pretended that Spike didn't exist. It took him until just a few years ago for him to finally tell me about what had happened with his visit there."

Buffy was silent for a moment thinking about what she had just been told. "I wonder why Spike didn't tell me that he had lived in Sunnydale when I told him that was where I had moved here from."

Faith turned to look at Buffy after she put the last nag of chips in a cupboard across the room. "Maybe he didn't want to talk about it." Faith shrugged her shoulders. "I don't know, but are you finished cause I am ready to get out of here."

"Yes, definitely." Buffy replied putting her empty soda boxes in the trashcan. She thought about Spike. The memory of him when he had held his breath when she had mentioned Sunnydale crossed her mind. There was something odd about him, like he was hiding something from her. 'I'm going to have to have a talk with him when we get back' She thought to herself as she walked with Faith out to the car. 'There is something that he is hiding I know it and I am going to find out what it is.'

A/N: So sorry it took a little longer to write this chapter then I had wanted to take, I ended up with a case of writers block. I also wanted to say thank you to those of you that have reviewed. Your wonderful comments are a blessing. Thank you all so much, I'm glad you are enjoying this. And to think I wasn't even going to share this since I wasn't too sure how well it would turn out.

Oh and luvs-bitch01 I tried to lengthen this chapter but I had a hard time doing so since I wasn't sure what to write, but I have the ideas set for the next chapter so hopefully it will be longer and I will get it up much sooner.


	9. Chapter 8

A/N: Okay everyone here's the next chapter. It's a little long, but that's a good thing right? I hope you enjoy this. Please read and review.

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"Are you sure you don't want to come out with me?" Faith asked Buffy as she got out of the car in front of the old hotel. She had tried desperately to get her to come out with her for a few drinks.

"I'm sure. Besides, we have work tomorrow and the last thing I need to do is come in to work with a hangover. You know alcohol and I are unmixy things."

"Alright. Tell my step brother that I went out for awhile and I promise not to be too late."

"Will do." Buffy told her as she shut the car door. It had been hard for her to concentrate on anything Faith was saying on the drive home. Faiths words kept ringing in her mind. "Spike used to live in Sunnydale. His father and stepmother moved him to England." William had moved far away, but he hadn't told her where he was going. He had lived with his father and stepmother. His eyes were just like Williams. 'No it couldn't be.' She thought as she walked through the front door. I'm sure I would have realized it was him from the moment I saw him. Maybe I…' Her thoughts were cut short as she started towards the stair case.

"Buffy." She heard Angels voice come from the large living area. She paused then turned to face him.

"Angel, hey."

"Were you just at the shop with Faith?"

""Yeah we stocked up on everything just like you said to."

"So where's Faith?"

"She decided to go out for a bit, but she promised that she wouldn't stay out too long. She knows that we have work tomorrow so I'm sure she meant it." Buffy said trying to convince Angel that Faith wouldn't be out all night like she usually was.

"Yeah well I guess we will see about that. You and I both know how many times she has said something like that and has only stumbled through the door after two or three in the morning."

"I'm sure she will be home Angel, she knows there is work tomorrow."

"Like that has ever stopped her before?"

"No, I guess not." Buffy said turning to go up the stairs. "Oh Angel?" Buffy called to him before she went up the stairs. She looked over her shoulder at him. "You wouldn't happen to know if your cousin is around would you?"

Angel gave her a look as if to say 'are you kidding me?'

"Don't look at me like that. Just answer my question."

"Honestly I don't know. I told him to pretty much stay in his rooms while he is here."

"Well that was very hospitable of you." Buffy said sarcastically. "Which apartment did you put him in?"

"The one at the end of the hall on the left. I figured it was the furthest one away from every one else so he couldn't be a nuisance."

"How nice of you to think of the others like that." Buffy muttered as she made her way up the stairs. She walked to the end of the hallway and knocked on the last door to her left. After a minute with no answer she knocked again. "Spike? It's Buffy, if you're here open up. I need to talk to you." She waited another few minutes and when she got no answer she turned the doorknob to see if it was locked, it wasn't. "Hello? Spike?" Buffy called out as she opened the door and walked into the apartment switching on the light. "Is any one here?" The place looked empty. She walked into his bedroom turning on the lights there as well, then over to the bathroom. There was no sign of him. 'He mustn't have come back yet.' she thought to herself as she started to walk out of the bedroom.

* * *

"Out mingling with the locals?" Faith asked as she stood behind the bleach blond man at the bar. He turned in his chair to see who had approached him.

"What the bloody hell do you want?" He asked crossly as he turned back to his drink. The last thing he wanted was for any of them to follow him around. "Did my poof of a cousin send you out to fetch me so he could ground me to my room?"

"Actually, no. I come here all the time. It's a nice quiet place. The kind of place you like to go to when you need to get away and clear your head. You know like when something is eating away at you." Faith answered him as she sat on the bar stool beside him as the bartender placed a drink in front of her.

"The only thing eating away at me, pet, is my sorry excuse for family and friends." Spike told her as he watched her join him at the bar. "The whole lot of you back at that place you call a home avoid me as if I've got the plague or something. The only one of you that tried to be civil turns out to be a heatless fraud hiding out here from the people that love her and are worried about her."

Faith glanced at Spike confusion written on her face. "Are you talking about Buffy?" She asked. It was the only person that she knew had talked to Spike.

"Yeah, I'm talking about Buffy, or should I say Elizabeth?" Spike replied angrily as he waved the bartender down to refill his glass. He glanced at Faith who looked at him clearly shocked.

"Buffy told you her real name?"

"No, she didn't have to. I knew it, I have for a long time. All I needed was a few clues as to who she is. I figured the rest out for myself, and I'm not sure I wanted to know. Thirteen years ago she was a sweet little girl and my best friend, now, I don't know what to think of her. The way she left Sunnydale and the state her father was in when I saw him yesterday because she hasn't bothered to call him to at least let him know that she was okay. That's no where near the girl I left behind."

Faith sat silently for a moment as she let Spike's words sink in. He had known Buffy as Elizabeth. He had known her when she was happy with her life and loved her family and friends with all her heart. "Wait, you're Wonder Boy?" Faith asked as though she didn't believe it. "You're the boy that Buffy refused to forget about. The one that she kept telling me would come back for her one day. You're William? Does she know?"

"I don't think so. I didn't tell her who I was." Spike couldn't believe that Faith had known about him. His mind hung on the fact that she had told him that Buffy had refused to forget about him. He wasn't sure how to react.. "She refused to forget about me?" he asked in a whisper.

"I don't know if I should tell you any of this stuff or not, but I will as long as you promise me you won't tell her I told you." Spike nodded his head in agreement. "Buffy held onto the hope that you were going to come back all the way up until she moved here. At every one of her birthday parties, when she would make her wish before blowing out the candles, she would wish that you would come back. I don't know what made her hold on for so long, but she did. I think that part of the reason she finally decided to go against what her father wanted was because she started to lose hope. She figured it wouldn't matter if she left because you weren't coming back."

Spike bowed his head as he took in a deep breath trying to steady his mind. "I wanted to come back sooner. My step mom got really sick and she asked me to stay. Jenny had always been good to me and I couldn't leave her when she needed me. I can't believe that Lizzie held on for so long. I would have given up hope years ago."

"Are you going to tell her?" Faith asked watching him. She could see he was in disbelief.

"I don't know. I want to, but after all this time I'm afraid of the way she will react. What if she is mad at me and wants me to leave? What if she doesn't still love me?"

"Hey pal, those are questions I can't answer. The only way to find out is to tell her."

Spike downed the drink that was sitting there and threw a few bills on the counter for the bartender. "Do you think I should tell her?"

"It's better then wondering what if."

"I suppose you're right." Spike stood up from the barstool and walked towards the door.

"Hey Boy Wonder" Faith called after him. Spike stopped and looked over his shoulder at the brunette sitting at the bar watching him. "Take it slow. Don't just come out and say it. Find a way to lead up to it. Maybe it will go better that way."

"Thanks." He said and headed out onto the dark L.A. streets. He had been at the bar longer then he thought. 'You are such a fool." He told himself as he walked back to the old hotel. 'She waited for you all that time. If you hadn't been so involved with Dru when you got out of high school she wouldn't have lost hope." The thought of his ex, the only girl he had been with, made him shudder. She had been crazy, but he hadn't cared. She treated him like a prince. Then she decided that she was bored with England and wanted to leave. She had tried to get him to go with, but by then his stepmother had fallen ill and he wouldn't leave her side. Druscilla had threatened to kill him telling him that he didn't love her enough and that his step mom shouldn't have been more important than her. She had been right though, he didn't love her. Spike had been with her because she was there, because she was the only one that didn't jump down his throat when he was getting in to trouble. Most of the time the trouble he caused was because of her, because she would ask him to do crazy things for her, and he had agreed because the thought of her leaving him alone in the world scared him. 'This all happened because I was afraid to be alone. If I had been strong enough to walk away from Dru I would have been back before she lost hope.'

Spike walked through the doors of the hotel and headed straight for the stairs. He heard Angel call after him, but pretended he hadn't. He was on a mission and he wasn't stopping for anything until he found her. He looked through her open apartment door, but there was no sign of her there. "Buffy?" He called to her as he walked into the living room. "Are you here?" There was no answer. "Damn" he whispered harshly. I thought about plopping himself on the sofa until she came back but he didn't want her to be upset with him for hanging out uninvited. 'I'll just go to my rooms and wait there for awhile and try again in an hour or so.' He decided as he left Buffy's apartment. He walked quickly down the hall when he saw light coming through his open door. Spike stepped into the living room, but saw no one. When he approached the bedroom he saw the woman he had been looking for sitting on his bed.

* * *

As Buffy walked past the dresser by the door in Spike's bedroom something caught her eye. She knew she shouldn't snoop through his things, but for some reason she just couldn't resist. There on the dresser was a small black photo album with a silver cross on the cover. Buffy picked it up, went to the bed to sit down, and opened the cover. The first picture she came across was of a baby boy. One look at his eyes told her it was a picture of Spike when he was first born. The next few pictures were of him with who she thought was his mother. He was still very young in these pictures. As she flipped through a few more they were of him as he was getting older. She stopped on a picture of him when he was about eight years old. He was standing by a playground a small blonde girl standing beside him. She stared at the photo as what she had been denying since she had first looked into Spike's eyes became all to real. She didn't remember the day the picture had been taken, but the picture she knew. There had been one just like it that had hung on the mirror in her bedroom since her mother had given it to her. She had taken it to college with her and to Los Angeles when she moved in with Faith and Angel. However, when she unpacked her belongings she left the picture in a box with others and had stuffed it under her bed where she had forgotten about it.

"You mind telling me what you're doing in my room looking through my things?" Buffy jumped off the bed at the sound of his voice. She had been so engrossed in the picture that she hadn't heard anyone else enter the room.

"I, I'm sorry. I came looking for you. I didn't mean to, I was walking out and I just I saw the photo album and I couldn't help it. I'm sorry. I…" She handed him the photo album still opened to the picture that had captured her attention. Spike looked at the picture the book was opened to. There was no doubt in his mind that if she didn't know who he was before, she definitely knew now.

"I see you found the picture. I guess I don't have to tell you who I am any more."

Buffy glared at him. "How long have you known? Why didn't you say anything to me before? Were you planning on leaving here and not telling me, thinking that I would never figure it out or that I wouldn't have cared?" She was clearly upset with him for not saying anything to her, it wasn't what Spike had been hoping to happen.

"Elizabeth" her real name came out of his mouth and it felt strange to him. "I was going to tell you. I realized it when we were talking at your place. I talked to your dad yesterday. He told me what happened and when you told me the same story I knew it was you."

"You called him didn't you? You told him where I am." Buffy yelled at him, scared that her hide out had been exposed and her father would be coming for her soon.

"No, Elizabeth I…"

Buffy cut him off not giving him the chance to tell her where he had been. "Don't call me that. My name hasn't been that for a long time. I am not the girl you left behind."

"Please, can we just talk this out?"

"Oh so now that I know who you are you want to talk. Earlier when we were talking you stormed out of my living room pissed off at me for whatever reason. You didn't want to talk to me then and tell me that you knew so I don't want to talk to you now." Buffy stated as she pushed her way past Spike and walked out to the hallway.

"Wait, Buffy." Spike called after her but she refused to stop. He followed her to her apartment where he was greeted with her door slamming in his face. Nothing had went as he had wanted it to go. Giving into defeat he returned to his apartment to try to figure out what to do next.


	10. Chapter 09

A/N: Hey everyone, thanks for the reviews. It seems like forever since I updated. My computer crashed and I lost everything so I had to try to rewrite what I was working on. I am going to try to update as often as I can, but since I don't know when my computer will get fixed it will take some time in between chapters so I can write and then go to a friend or relatives home to use their computer to do my updates. So please be patient I am going to try my best to update as soon as I can.

* * *

Buffy leaned against the closed door of her apartment and slid to the floor trying to hold back the tears that threatened to spill down her cheeks. "It wasn't supposed to happen this way." She whispered to the empty room. "Things were supposed to get better when he came back."

Buffy closed her eyes and let the memories of her day dreams flood her mind. They were the dreams she would have about the day William would return to her. She would hear a knock on the door and when she opened it he would be there, smiling, arms open wide. She would run into his arms and they would hug each other as though their lives depended on it. There would be exchanges of I missed you and I'm so happy to see you again. Then, just like it happened in the movies, the two would break slightly apart to meet the others gaze, only to find themselves leaning slowly closer, their lips awaiting contact with the others.

"Buffy, you're an idiot." She scolded herself, breaking off her day dream. "That's what I get for watching too many of those high school romance movies. I know better then that. This is the way real life goes, and real life sucks." She inhaled deeply as she drew the back of her hand across her cheek to wipe away a few tears that had escaped. "We should have known from the beginning who the other was, but we didn't. Maybe our bond hadn't been as strong as I thought. But he did come back for me, or maybe it wasn't for me. He never said that he came back here specifically for me. Who else could it have been for? If he did come back for me then why didn't he tell me when he realized who I was? What did I do wrong?" She kept asking herself question after question, trying to figure out what had gone wrong, until she had finally exhausted herself and passed out on the floor.

* * *

"I'm a soddin idiot." Spike told himself as he sat on the edge of his bed. He glanced down at the picture that he still held in his hand, the picture that had told Buffy the truth before he had. "It shouldn't have happened this way. I should have told her as soon as I figured it out. I'll find a way to make this right, Elizabeth, I promise." He sat there for a few moments trying to figure out what to do to solve the problem. "If she would just talk to me, let me explain why I did what I did. Even if she would just sit and listen to what I have to say, but she is still just as stubborn as she was when we were little."

Spike laid the photo he was holding down and went to one of his opened suitcases to rummage through it until he found what he had been looking for. He pulled out a notebook and pen, then went back to the bed to start writing.

* * *

Buffy awoke to the sound of knocking. At some point in the middle of the night she had managed to make it to the living room sofa. "Hey B." She heard Faiths voice through the closed door. "You almost ready? The bus leaves in fifteen."

"It's unlocked."She called out to her as she stood up and stretched. She felt horrible. Her night had been restless, filled with dreams and memories of William.

"Whoa, B, you look rough." Faith commented as she walked into the room. "You and Boy Wonder must have had one hell of a night."

"Thanks Faith" Buffy mumbled as she walked towards her bedroom, she paused just inside the doorway when Faiths words had fully sunk in. "Wait" she said turning around to face her "You knew it was him? Why didn't you tell me?"

"Hey, I only found out after I dropped you off here yesterday. I ran into him at the bar. I made a comment about it being a good place to clear your head when things are bothering you, and then before I knew it he was spilling his story. Afterwards, he said he was going to come here and talk to you. I figured that from the way you looked the two of you had a hell of a night."

"Oh, we had a hell of a night alright, but not from what you are implying."

"Then what did happen?"

"Buffy glanced at the clock across the room. "We will have to talk about htis later. I realy need to get ready before Angel comes looking for us."

"Too late. I'm already here." The two girls looked in the direction the voice had come from to see Angel entering the apartment.

"Tell me you weren't listening to our conversation." Buffy pleaded.

"Don't worry, I only heard the part about me coming to look for you, honest."

"Thank God" Buffy breathed then disappeared into her bedroom to get ready for work as quickly as she could. "Angel don't leave without me. I won't take long. I promise." She called to him from her room.

"I won't. We'll meet you downstairs." He called back to her then followed Faith towards the doorwy that led into the hall, but Faith stopped suddenly at the doorway.

She bent down and picked up a white envelope. When she turned it over she saw Elizabeth written on the front. "Hold on a sec." She told Angel then disappeared into Buffy's bedroom. Faith emerged a minute later and followed Angel out of the apartment.

"So you wanna tell me what's going on?" Angel asked once they were in the hallway. "Buffy didn't look like she had a good night sleep."

"It's nothing. Girl stuff. You wouldn't want to hear about it." Faith told him. She knew better then to bring up his cousin. "I'll see you down stairs." She added then headed off in the direction of the stairs to meet up with the group that was waiting to leave for work.

* * *

Angel watched as his step sister walked down the hall then turned in the opposite direction to collect the last of his missing tenants. "Spike you better be ready." Angel yelled from outside the apartment at the end of the hall. The door flew open to reveal Spike clad in his all black attire.

"I'm always ready mate." Spike told him, an evil grin spread across his lips. He was feeling better, compared to how he had felt the night before. He hoped that Elizabeth had found the letter he had slipped beneath her door before he went to sleep. He had knocked on the door, hoping to give it to her personally, but she didn't answer. It didn't matter though, just writing her, telling her everything, had lifted most of the stress he had felt. Now all he could do was wait and hope that she took the time to read it.

"What's that supposed to mean." Angel asked defensively.

"Just means I'm ready is all. Don't get your knickers all up in a bunch."

"Spike, I'm warning you, you better keep yourself under control while we are at the shop. My employees and I have built up a good reputation and I don't want to ruin that because you feel like being a jerk. If you remember I am doing you a favor by letting you stay here until you have what you need to be on your way."

"You're only doing it cause daddy told you to. I'm not bloody stupid you know. I know you don't want me here any more then I want to be here."  
"If you don't want to be here then why did you come?"

"Because your father told me I should. I told him I didn't want to, but he bought me the plane ticket to here and said it would be good for me. He said it would be better then me being out runnin the streets trying to get by on my own. Apparently he was wrong."

"My father forced you to come here?" Angel was in disbelief. Why would his father do that? He knew the history between the two hadn't been good. Why would he force them to be together again?

"Yeah, he did. If you don't believe me, give him a call." Spike retorted. He could tell that Angel was not happy that his father had forced him into giving his cousin a place to stay and that made him feel even better.

"Let's go Spike." Angel hissed. He could feel the pleasure Spike was getting out of his turmoil.

"So do I get a proper introduction to everyone today or do you still have everyone as a member of the Hate Spike fan club." He asked as he walked beside Angel down the hall, his eyes locked in the direction of the only other apartment he had been in. The one where she was living.

" I think I will let the others decide whether or not they want to talk to you."

"Well we all know what that answer will be, no thanks to you. You have already bad mouthed me to every one before I even got here."

"Yeah, well I certainly..." Angel paused as he noticed Buffy step out of her room. Spike noticed her too and smiled, but she hadn't noticed. As soon as she had seen them she averted her eyes away from him.

Buffy stepped out of her apartment just as Angel and Spike were passing by. She had heard them quarrelling as they approached her rooms. At first she had thought about waiting until they had passed before she left, but then decided not to put it off. Sooner or later she was going to have to face him, why wait? Buffy was thankful that Angel had been walking on the side of the hall her room was on and Spike was on the other. "Good morning." Angel was the first to speak when she joined them in the hall. "I hope you are feeling better then what you were when I saw you this morning."

"A little. I just needed some time to wake up."

"You know if you need some one to talk to I'm always willing to listen."

"Thanks, Angel, but I'm okay."

"Did you sleep well last night, Buffy?" Spike asked. He knew it probably sounded lame, but it was he only thing he could think of.

"What does it matter to you?" Buffy snapped at him. She was still thoroughly pissed at him for what had happened the day before. The envelope Faith had handed her that morning was in the back pocket of her jeans, but she hadn't opened it, even though Faith had begged her to, and wasn't sure she was going to. She was sure it was a sorry letter and she didn't want to read it yet, Buffy wasn't done being mad at him. "What's he doing here any way?"

"Spike, here, told me yesterday that he just wanted to stay the week. He said that he wanted to work while he was here to pay his keep and get him some money so he could be on his way out of our lives."

"So, you're not staying then?" Buffy asked trying to act hurt. Truth was she didn't have to act, deep down she was, but she wasn't about to let him know that.

"Unless I find a good reason to stay, then I guess not."

"That's good. I mean it's not like we want you to be here anyway. It will make our lives so much easier." Buffy was being down right mean and she knew it, but she had been angry to begin with and hearing that he wasn't staying had only made her hurt more.

"I'm glad to hear that it would make at least one person happy." Spike stated angrily then quickened his pace to walk ahead of the other two trying to figure out if she was still mad at him for yesterday or if she had read his letter and something with that had set her off. He hoped that it hadn't been because of the letter. He knew now that it was is only chance to set things straight, she obviously was not going to give him the chance to fix things by talking.

"Buffy" Angel whispered grabbing her arm so she would stop walking. "Is there something going on between the two of you that I should know about? I mean I know it's Spike and all, but you are being rather ruthless."

"No, there is nothing going on. He just irritates me."

"You sure that's all it is? I don't think I have ever seen you be so mean before."

"I don't want to talk about it. But, Angel, can you please do me a favor?"

"Anything for you."

"Could we please cancel our bet. I don't want to try to change him. Truth is, he has me so mad that I don't even want to be around him."

"Did he hurt you?"

"No, he just did something stupid. He didn't touch me, if he would have I would have killed him."

"Do you want me to say something to him? I could tell him to stay away from you, if you want."

"No, let it go, Angel. I can handle this myself. I just need some time to get over it. Things will be right as rain in a few days, but I don't want to follow through with our bet."

"If you want to drop it we can. I've never known you to give up on something before, so I am going to assume that what ever happened is pretty bad."

"When you think about it, it really isn't, but it's a long story and I don't really want to discuss it."

"Will you be able to work with him? I don't want any kind of altercations between the two of you while you are at work."

"Don't worry I can behave while we are there. I know how hard you have worked to get that place where it is and I wouldn't think of doing anything to ruin that for you."

"Thanks, Buffy."

"Thank you for letting me back out of our bet."

"So are we ready to get to work?"

"Yeah, I think so."

"Then let's be on our way." Angel said as they started for the stairs.


	11. Chapter 10

A/N: I am so so so sorry for taking so long to update.. My computer is still sitting in my house, still crashed, and who knows if it will ever get fixed. My work schedule has been crazy working 50+ hours every week because I have to cover for what my husband isn't getting paid for from work since his injury, hopefully our lawyer gets things done soon so we can go to court and get this all taken care of.

Anyway thank you all so much for the reviews that have been given. You all are just too wonderful. And I promise that this time I will try to update much sooner. They are calling for rain here tomorrow so hopefully it does and work closes down early, then I can finish and post the next chapter. Again thank you all so much I hope you enjoy.

DISCLAIMER: I don't own anything, it all belongs to the God Joss.

* * *

The ride to Exotic Detailer was filled with various conversations. Angel and his on and off girlfriend Cordelia were seated in the front of the van holding an animated conversation about their biggest customer of the week, Joss Whedon, creator of a very popular television show about a vampire slayer. It was the biggest thing to hit television since they invented color tv. Oz and Devon were seated in the second row busily planning out their show coming up on Friday night. Buffy, Faith and Winifred 'Fred' were in the seat behind them, Fred telling the other two women about her new boyfriend Wesley. Faith was paying full attention, unlike Buffy who couldn't help but listen in on the conversation going on behind her between Spike and the last member of the group Gunn.

"So, Spike, Angel said that you are only going to be with us for the week. That's a shame man." Gunn said to the bleached blond beside him trying to make an attempt at getting to know the man Angel had unwillingly agreed to 'set up for awhile'.

"Well originally I would have stayed around a bit longer, but figured there was no point since I didn't find what I had been looking for." Spike replied, not in the mood for conversation as he stared at the blonde woman in front of him.

"Angel said you were here in the States looking for some one but you didn't have any luck finding him."

"Actually, I was looking for a her, and I did find her, only problem is that she turned out not to be what I was looking for. The stupid bint was, to say the least, a disappointment."

Buffy couldn't stop herself, she turned to face Spike and glared at him, her eyes shooting daggers in his direction. 'Stupid jerk.' She thought. Spike smirked at her in response thinking to himself that it served her right as she turned back to face the front of the van, the exchange of unspoken words didn't go unnoticed by Gunn.

* * *

As the group walked into the large detail shop Angel flipped the switches for the lights and Cordelia made her way to the receptionist desk. The rest of the group mingled in the middle of the shop awaiting their instructions. "Nice place" Spike grumbled under his breath as he took in the site of the detail shop.

"Compared to what it looked like when Angel first took over, it's more then nice." Oz said to him. "This used to be an old run down warehouse but after the place started to make a name for itself Angel decided a make over was needed and this is what we ended up with."

Spike took in the sight before him, a pang of jealousy surged through him due to the obviousness of his cousins success. The place was definitely a high class service place. There were various work stations all through out the large open building, the floor a slate gray color, the walls cream colored, everything in its place all neat and tidy. He was more curious to know how they managed to keep the place looking so new considering the work that was being done in the building. The receptionist desk was in the front of the room with large glass windows making up the front wall behind it. He counted the number of work stations in the building, eight, two of them were across the room the other three on the side where they had entered, three on either side of a large garage door. Each station had had various equipment and carts with chemicals and small tools surrounding them.

"Okay, everyone listen up." Angel's voice cut into Spike's thoughts, "We have a ton of work coming in this week, just today alone is going to be a test of our true ability to get work done right and in a timely manner. "Cordelia," Angel called to her at her desk, "do we have any other cars arriving today or were they all dropped off on Friday?"

"Umm, let's see" She said looking at a daily planner on her desk. "It looks like they are all here."

"Good, that makes things much easier."He replied turning back to the group as he looked at a clipboard he held in his left hand. "Okay so here is the break up for the day. Because we have one person more then usual we are going to do things a little differently this week. But don't worry next week this disturbance will be gone and we will be able to get back to our normal routine." Angel caught the glare from Spike but pretended he hadn't noticed. "The following are going to group together Fred, Oz, Devon and Gunn. I am going to leave it up to you how you want to split the work up, but you will be working in stations four through eight. The first cars you are to work on are the ones already parked in these stations. Stations four, six, and seven are complete inside and out details. Station five is just the inside detail with a wash and wax on the exterior, the customer does not want the exterior buffed so hand wax only. In station eight is an exterior detail only, do not touch anything inside the car. The four of you are excused to your stations as you finish up those cars come to see me about what you will be doing next."

Angel paused as the first four of the group went off to the right of the building to get started on their list of things to get done before the end of the day. He glanced at the three people left standing before him. His step sister and her best friend were busy whispering to each other a smile on the brunettes face and a frown on the blonds. After seeing them like this many times before he knew that Faith was bugging Buffy about something she either didn't want to talk about or something she didn't want to do. "Ladies" Angel said a hint of warning in his voice. The two women stopped their chattering and turned their attention back to him. "That leaves us with the two of you and Spike. Your first three details are in their stations all are complete details. Faith I want you to show Captain Peroxide here how to work the high speed buffer, without burning the paint off of anyones car. Buffy I want you to work on the inside of one of the cars while she is doing that, after they are finished and Spike thinks he has things mastered I want you to show him how to do the interior work. Which ever of the three cars the three of you aren't working on I will start."

"Sounds like a plan bro." Faith said grabbing Spike's arm and leading him away from Buffy and Angel. "Come on Boy Wonder, let's get you an apron and start working you to the bone." Faith paused for a moment as she glanced over Spike's body then added, "I guess that actually wouldn't take much. Have you ever thought about not being so damned skinny."

"Well, I'm glad to see someone has the ability to be able to stomach him." Angel said as he watched Faith lead Spike towards the place she was going to have him start working at.

"I'm sure she is only doing it because she is here at work." Buffy covered for the way Faith was acting towards Spike. She knew it was because Faith knew who Spike really was.

"You're probably right. Come on, let's get to work." Angel said as he walked over to the three stations they were going to be working in.

* * *

As Buffy sat in her first project car of the day she tried hard to concentrate on the work she was supposed to be doing, but she kept finding herself watching Faith and Spike together. Their backs were to her as Faith was giving pointers to him about how to use the high speed buffer he held in his hands, at least that's what Buffy thought she was doing. The two were talking quietly to each other and Buffy couldn't hear what they were saying.

"So I heard things didn't go too well yesterday after you left the bar." Faith said as she and Spike stood beside the car they were going to work on together. She had already run down the list of different chemicals and supplies that Spike would have to eventually use telling him what each one was for. Spike was holding the buffer in his hands as he waited for further instructions from his teacher, only to be caught off gaurd by the comment she made instead. "You could say that."

"You wanna talk about it?"

"Not really."

"You want me to talk to her for you?"

Spike looked at Faith his eyebrow lifting slightly. "You would actually do that?"

"Why not?" Faith questioned back.

"Well it's not like anyone here likes me or anything so why would anyone want to do me any favors?"

"Okay, so as Angel's cousin you're a jerk, but that's not all you are. Ever since I have known Buffy she has held on to the hope that you would come back looking for her some day and since you're here I figured you can't be that much of a jerk."

"Thanks, but I don't think that she feels the same way that you do. I didn't want her to find out who I was the way she did. I was going to tell her. I should have right away, but I was furious with her when I figured it out. So I left. I was stupid, I told her that, but she hates me now. Even after the letter I wrote her she still hates me."

"She didn't read the letter."

"How do you know?"

"Because I found it on the floor inside her apartment this morning. I gave it to her and pretty muched begged her to read it, but she wouldn't."

"How do you know you found my letter to her?"

"Because bleach boy," Faith said with a smile "you are the only one around here that calls Buffy by her real name."

Spike smiled at the brunette beside him, he was starting to like this girl. "Guess that kinda gives it away, huh?"

"Yeah." Faith agreed as she cast a quick glance over her shoulder at Buffy sitting in the car next to them. "Umm, maybe we should get started on doing some actual work." She told Spike after catching their coworker watching them. "I think Buffy is starting to wonder what's going on over here."

Spike then did as Faith had and looked at Buffy behind them, but now she was busy scrubbing at something on the door. He watched her for a moment as she worked. 'She's more beautiful then I remember.' He thought to himself. 'I really am an idiot.'

"Don't stare too much, you might start to drool." Faith's words interrupted his thoughts.

"Yeah, uh, sorry." Spike apologized, blushing slightly for getting caught. "So, what's first boss?" For the next forty five minutes Faith instructed Spike on the art of high speed buffing without burning the paint off the car, by telling him not to stay in one spot too long, and to avoid catching the door handles, rear view mirrors, and trim.

* * *

As Spike started on the second half of the car Faith went to the next station over and plopped into the back seat of the car Buffy was working on. "So did you read it yet?"

"You two were talking about me." Buffy accused without turning to look at her.

"What makes you think that?"

"Oh, come on, Faith. It took you guys like twenty minutes to actually start doing any work, and then he was staring at me."

"Oh so you saw that?"

"Yeah, but I didn't have to. I could feel his eyes burning holes in my flesh."

Faith giggled at her friends comment. "Even still, that doesn't mean we were talking about you." She paused for a moment before asking again. "So, did you read the letter he wrote to you?"

"No and I don't plan on it." She lied. The envelope that was in the back pocket of her jeans was all she could think about while she had watched Faith and Spike talking. "Besides, it doesn't matter anyway, he's leaving at the end of the week. There's no point."

"B, this guy came all the way back here from England to find you. Don't you think you at least owe it to him to read his letter?"

"Did he brainwash you or something?" Buffy asked finally turning to look at the woman interrupting her work. She had finally started concentrating on what she was supposed to be doing instead of the black clad figure a few yards away.

"No, I just think that if he came looking for you after all this time then that has to mean something. He can't be that much of a jerk if he went in search of his long lost love."

"Love? Are you kidding me? Faith we were little kids, there was no long lost love, just friendship."

"Are you sure about that because when we were at the bar yesterday he said he the 'L' word."

Buffy's eyes shot open wide "He what!" she exclaimed loud enough that the guy they had been talking about heard her.

Spike heard Buffy's voice and he couldn't stop himself from looking at the two girls sitting in the next car over. "Oh, bloody hell!" He hollered. In the few seconds that he had looked away from what he was doing Spike managed to catch the pad of the buffer on a piece of trim which caused the machine in his hands to bounce, the handle flying back to catch him in the gut.

Buffy looked in his direction as did the majority of the group to see what had happened. 'Serves him right.' She thought to herself.

"I better go make sure he's okay." Faith said as she slipped from the car to go make sure Spike was alright.

Buffy watched as Faith approached Spike and felt a twinge of jealousy course through her veins when she saw her friend laughing while she shed pity upon him and rubbed the spot on Spike's stomach where the buffer had caught him. "He's not a baby." Buffy mumbled to the empty car then decided it was time for a break and headed off to the ladies room.


	12. Chapter 11

Okay after what has been forever, I have finally found time to post updates. My computer is still waiting for me to take it into the shop for repairs, so in the mean time I have been borrowing a friends and writing as much as I can at once. My dsl has been disconnected so I am burdened with troublesome stone age dial up, because of this I don't go online much, so I have decided to post the next 10 chapters all at once. I really do apologize for making you wait like this, but hopefully this will make up for some of it. To those of you that have left reviews, thank you so much I really do appreciate it. Now onto business.

* * *

Once inside the bathroom Buffy locked the door and walked over to the sink. "What is wrong with me?" She asked her reflection. "Did I actually just get jealous because Faith was rubbing Spike's stomach?" She sighed heavily as she went to the toilet to relieve the pressure that was making her bladder ache. She had had to go to the bathroom for awhile, but for some reason she couldn't pry herself away from watching Faith tutor Spike. When she sat down on the cold porcelian she heard something fall onto the tile floor at her feet. A glance in the direction of the noise showed her what had fallen, there on the floor, was the envelope that had been in the back pocket of her jeans. "What the hell." Buffy said to herself, admitting defeat as she picked up the envelope and tore it open looking at the numerous pages in her hands. "What did he do write a book?" That was her last thought as she began to read the letter.

_Dear Elizabeth,_

_I know what you are thinking, you're thinking that this is some pathetic, please forgive me, I am so sorry, letter. Well, it's not. If you think I am going to crawl around on my hands and knees and beg for your forgiveness, I'm not. Yes, I am sorry it took so long to come back. Yes, I am sorry for what happened when I did stumble upon your new life, but I have come to learn things don't always happen the way you want them to, and you just have to learn to accept that. I had planned on coming back much sooner, planned on a happy reuniting, but that's obviously not how things happened. When I came back from the bar I was going to tell you, but you found out before I had the chance. I wanted to explain everything to you, but you were being just as stubborn as you always were and didn't want to listen to what I had to say. So I am going to explain things to you now in this letter. It's the only way that I can think of to get you to listen to what I have to say. When my father told me that we were going away and that we weren't coming back I thought I was going to die. I didn't want to leave. I loved my life, my friends, you. I didn't want to leave you behind. My dad wasn't even going to let me say goodbye to anyone, but I told him I had to tell you. My heart broke that day as I stood on your front porch and saw the hurt that you felt. I promised that one day I would come back for you and I had always intended on keeping that promise. Dad moved us all off to England and I despised him for what he had done. From the moment the plane landed I did nothing but cause trouble and rebel against him and everything that he wanted. By the time I had turned 16 I had gotten expelled from two schools and then that was when I had met Druscilla. The girl was off her rocker, always talking in riddles and talking to people no one else could see, but I didn't care, she treated me as though I was her everything. It was because of her that any remaining part of William was destroyed, I was from that point on, Spike. I cut and bleached my hair and discarded any clothes that resembled my former self only wearing black because that was what fit who I had become. Dru and I were together for about six years. I did everything for her, anything she asked no matter what the penalties would be. On more then one occasion I came close to being locked away. When I think back to the time I spent with her I don't know what I was thinking. I never loved her. I was only with her because without her I was alone and I didn't want to be alone. I don't think my father even realized what I had become and if he had he brushed it off. The only one that still fought to try and keep me from becoming a lost cause was Jenny. When I was twentyone she was diagnosed with cancer. Within the next year she had become extremely ill. I didn't want to lose her. Even with the trouble that I had caused she was always there for me, she treated me as if I were her son, she always had, and I couldn't leave her side. That was around the time that Druscilla started to rag on me about leaving England. She had gotten bored with life there and wanted to move some place else. She wanted me to go with her, but I couldn't leave Jenny. I owed it to her to be there for her in her time of need. Dru was really upset with me, telling me that I didn't love her and that Jenny shouldn't have been more important then she was. She even threatened to kill me, but I wouldn't go with her. Eventually Dru gave up and left England for some place else. Jenny hung on to life until six months ago. When she passed away I had lost the last person that meant anything to me. First there was my mom, then there was you, then Dru, and then Jenny. After Jenny was gone I thought about packing up right away and coming back to the states to look for you, but I didn't think that you would even remember who I was, so I didn't. There wasn't a day that went past in the last thirteen years when I hadn't thought about you. No matter what trouble I was causing I would think of you and wonder what you would think of me if you knew what I was doing. The first few years all I could do was think about the day when I would come back to Sunnydale, but as time passed it seemed less likely that I would ever come back. Eventually you got the better of me and I decided that I had to know for sure so a few days ago I packed up some of my things and boarded a plane to California. When the cab driver dropped me off in front of your old house I couldn't find the courage to knock on the door. After almost fifteen minutes I decided to go a different route and went to see if I could find some of our other friends. It amazed me that even after all this time I could still remember where everyone lived. I tried Willow's place first but her mom was reluctant to give out any information other then that Willow was away at college. From there I tried Xander's. His mom gave me an address where I could find him so I went there next. His girlfriend answered the door when I got there. She told me that he was working in construction and was off at one of the sites. I asked her if she knew you and she told me that she did, but that no one had heard from you in a year. I asked her why and she said that I should talk to your father. I debated not going to your house to talk to your dad, but I had to know what happened so I went back to where I had originally planned to go and knocked on the door. When your father answered I almost didn't recognize him. He looked much older then he should have, the signs of stress and worry etched into his face. I introduced myself and a look of sorrow passed through his eyes. He invited me in and told me the story of what happened. I asked him if he knew of any place where I could look for you, but he didn't. Then he asked me if I was going to try and find you. I didn't see how I could. I didn't know any of the people that you had been friends with other then Xander and Willow and if they hadn't heard from you either then I didn't know where else I could look. When I told him this he broke down telling me that he just wanted to know that you were okay, that you were alive. He knew it was his fault that you left, he pushed you to do things that you didn't want to do. He blamed himself for you leaving. He told me that if I changed my mind and I did go in search of you and if I did find you, to let him know. He told me that he didn't even have to know where you were, he just wanted to know that you were all right. I used the phone before I left and called my uncle, Angel's dad and explained what was going on. I didn't have any where to go and I just needed a place to stay until I decided where to go next. He told me to go to the airport and he would have a ticket reserved for me to go to Los Angeles. He said that he would talk to Angel and get him to give me a place to stay until I got my bearings. I didn't want to come here, Angel and I don't get along if you haven't noticed, but my uncle said that was all he would do for me so I took the offer. What other choice did I have? I sat at the airport all night until my flight on Sunday morning. I was so tired, but I couldn't sleep. My thoughts were on you all night and during the short flight to L.A. I was disappointed that you had moved on with your life, that you hadn't waited for me. I knew I shouldn't have expected you to, there was so much time lost in between and it broke my heart all over again. I was also disappointed that you had left the way you did and that you didn't seem to care. I vowed that if by some miracle I did happen to cross paths with you I would be sure to give you hell for what you had done to your friends and family. When Angel picked me up at the airport Sunday morning I was in a bad mood and seeing him hadn't made things any better. We fought the entire car ride to where you all live and we were still fighting when I saw you walk down that staircase. I was immediately drawn to you in a way that I don't think I can even explain. You were absolutely magnificent and there was something about you that called out to me, something familiar. I knew that no matter what happened I would make every effort to get to talk to you, to get to know you. Finally you let me in and sat down and talked to me as though I was worth it even though Angel had warned everyone to be wary of me. Then you told me the story of Sunnydale, the same one that matched the one I heard the day before. When I put two and two together, I freaked out a bit. I didn't know what to think. I was really mad at you because of what you had done, yet there was this feeling of relief. You were alive, you were okay, you were right there in front of me. I wanted to say something, but I couldn't. The anger wouldn't let me give you the privilge of knowing exactly who I was, so I left. I went out for a walk not sure where I was going. I thought about calling your father and telling him that I had found you, but I knew it wasn't my place, so I didn't. Instead I went to a bar to forget about my troubles for the moment. I don't know how long I was there, but Angel's step sister showed up somewhere in the midst of my outing. I thought that Angel had sent her out to keep an eye on me, turns out it was one of her favorite places. I was complaining to her and made a comment that she knew was about you. When she asked me if I was refering to you I said yes, then threw your real name into the mix which caught her off gaurd for a moment. From there she figured out who I was, apparently I am known as Boy Wonder. She told me some stuff that she knew from what you had told her and we had a nice little chat. I walked out of the bar afterwards to come and talk to you, still shocked that you had held on for so long. But, I was too late. By the time I had gotten back to my rooms you had figured it out on your own. I don't blame you for being mad at me for not saying anything. I was an idiot. All I wanted to do was tell you everything that I have just told you in this letter, but you wouldn't listen so I opted for this choice. I'm not expecting this to make things right as rain, but I am hoping that if you at least take the time to read it then you will understand what has happened. I didn't intend things to go the way they had, but as I said earlier, things don't always go as planned. If you are willing try to clear this mess up, then I am willing to try as well. If you aren't, then please know that I wish I would have kept my promise sooner. _

_Love, _

_William_

_When darkness falls_

_When sleep calls_

_When I lay down my head _

_As I crawl into bed _

_Though I can't touch you_

_I still feel you_

_You still touch my heart_

_No matter how long we've been apart_

_We are still close it seems_

_When you are in my dreams_

Buffy wiped a tear from the corner of her eye as she slowly started to fold the letter back up. "Hey B." Faith's voice echoed through the door. "Did you flush yourself or what? You've been in there forever. It's time to take fifteen."

"I'll be out in a minute." She called back to her. 'Did I really just read this sitting on the toilet' She asked herself.


	13. Chapter 12

"You read it didn't you?" Faith questioned as Buffy followed her out of the building so Faith could smoke a cigarette on their break.

"Yeah." She admitted quietly.

"So? Dish. Was it as pathetic as you said it was going to be?"

"No."

"Well then what did it say?"

"A lot."

"Do I have to pull teeth here or what? Come on what's the scoop?"

"Can we talk about this later? I just..."

"Mind if I join you?" The voice of a third person interrupted from behind them. Buffy didn't have to turn around to see who was there.

"No, not at all." Faith replied turning and grinning at the bleached blond behind them who was lighting a cigarette.

Spike noticed the grin on the brunettes face and knew that was meant to imply something, he just wasn't sure what. "You don't mind do you, Buffy?" He asked the other woman hoping that she wouldn't object.

"It's a free country." Buffy said indifferently. She didn't want to let on that she had read his letter and that she was feeling like mush. She leaned against the wall outside and slid down to the ground bringing her knees up to her chest and wrapping her arms around them, followed by Faith. Spike paused in front of them before sitting where he was so he could face the two women. Buffy felt butterflies in the pit of her stomach. "How's your stomach?" She asked quietly trying to sound as though she didn't care, but not achieving the effect.

"It's good. Thanks." Spike answered surprised that she had even bothered to ask. There was something going on, he just couldn't put his finger on what it was. "So, what's next on the agenda? Faith and I are pretty much finished with the car that we were working on."

"We have like five minutes of work left on that one. What about you B.?"

"You really don't want to know. If Angel realizes how little I have gotten done so far he is going to kill me." Buffy commented resting her head against the wall and closing her eyes.

"Well, why don't you take Spike and work on what you have together?" Faith suggested.

Buffy lifted her head up straight and turned to glare at her friend, hating her for mentioning the idea, but training Spike was unavoidable. "Might as well. The sooner he learns the sooner he can work on his own." Buffy said, her words coming out a little harsher then she had meant them to. She wasn't the type of person that liked to train others. If there was work that needed to be done she would rather just do it and get it finished without having to worry about whether the person next to her was doing things right or not. On top of all that she was going to be training Spike. This morning she hated him and was looking forward to him leaving at the end of the week, but now, things were different.

"You know Buffy," Spike replied getting up from where he was sitting on the ground. He threw his cigarette butt on the asphalt parking lot and ground it out with his boot. "If it's going to be so difficult for you to tell me what to do then maybe you need to talk to Angel and get things switched. I'm sure he would do it for you. The two of you seem closer then you say you are and on top of all that you both share the same dislike for me."

"Wait, Spike" Buffy called after him as he turned to go back into the building. He pretended he hadn't heard her and kept walking. Buffy turned to Faith who was looking at her strangely. "What? I didn't mean it like that. It's just that you know how I hate to train people and after the letter, well, can we say extremely uncomfortable situation?"

Faith stood up from where she was sitting and held a hand out to Buffy to help her up. "You are so going to have to let me read that letter. If it has you acting all cat got your tongue, then it has to be good."

Buffy rolled her eyes in response as she followed Faith back to work.

"Buffy." Angel's voice echoed throught the open room as she walked in. " Can I see you for a minute?"

'Great' Buffy thought to herself 'Here comes some stupid speech. I wonder what I did wrong this time.' "Yes, Angel" Buffy said sweetly with a smile as she came face to face with her boss.

"I've changed the plans for the rest of the day. Fred is going to train Spike on interior detail. I'd rather have you do it, but, I heard that you haven't gotten much done yet this morning. So I figured it would be best if you could work without any further distractions."

"Who said I didn't get anything done?" Buffy asked already knowing who had snitched on her. She could see the tatle tale acroos the shop, his back to her as he listened to Fred's instructions.

"It appears that you already know the answer to that." Angel responded noticing the glare she was giving Spike. "Look, Buffy, don't worry about him. We only have to deal with him for the week then he will be gone and things will be back to normal."

"I know." Buffy told him quietly her voice giving off a hint of sorrow.

* * *

When the time came for lunch Buffy refused to stop working. She told Faith and Angel that she wanted to get herself caught up from her slow poking that morning. Actually, she didn't want to miss out on lunch, but she didn't want to deal with Spike on her break, she would take care of that after work. She used the same excuse again when it was time for the last break of the day. Buffy watched as Faith and Spike walked out of the building to smoke while everyone else mingled around the shop to talk.

"Hey Buffy." Cordelia greeted her as she sat down in the car that Buffy was cleaning. "You've been all work and no play girl today. What's up?"

"Nothing Cordy. I just have a lot of work to do and I spent too much time goofing off this morning."

"You sure that's all it is? This wouldn't have anything to do with Angel's cousin would it?"

"Why would you think that it would?"

"Well, it's just that, from behind my desk over there I can see everything. I couldn't help but notice the way the two of you kept watching each other, trying to make it not so obvious, only not doing the best job of it. I mean I can understand the interest you have in him. After all what girl wouldn't be. If I didn't have this thing with Angel I would be all over him."

"Cordelia!" Buffy exclaimed.

"Only speaking the truth here honey. A bit of advice, if you're interested, go for it. I know Angel says his cousin is no good and all that garbage, but don't listen to him, he blows things way out of proportion. It's typical Angel style, show no emotion, but when things happen he doesn't like he gets all dramatic and makes it seem so much worse. So don't worry about any of the nonsense that comes out of Angel's mouth."

"Thanks so much Cordelia." Buffy replied, sarcastically, only Cordelia didn't catch it.

"If you need any help, just let me know." Cordy said getting out of the car. "I better get back over to the front desk some of the customers should be here soon to pick up their cars."

"Thank God," Buffy complained to herself as she watched her walk away. "Just what I need today, advice from Miss Cordelia Chase."

"And what kind of advice could Cordy actually be giving you?" Faith's voice came from beside her. Buffy hadn't even realized that her friend had come back in the building.

"Oh, don't ask. It's too terrifying to even repeat."

"She noticed didn't she?"

"Oh, yeah."

"Dr. Chase, here to tell you everything you need to know about everything." Faith joked trying to get a smile from Buffy. It worked, but only for a breif moment.

"So, how was your smoke break?" Buffy couldn't keep herself from asking. "Have any interesting conversations?"

"Actually, no. Our smoke break was just that, us smoking. He seemed like he wanted to say something, but he didn't and I didn't pry. Why? Were you hoping he was going to say something juicy?"

"No." Buffy covered "I just thought that the two of you were talking about me again." Buffy paused to look around the shop and noticed Spike was watching the two of them talking. "He's probably still mad at me for what I said this morning."

"I said something to him at lunch about that, but he didn't say anything. Maybe he would take it better if you explained it yourself." Faith looked up over the car and noticed that Angel was walking towards them. "I guess I better get back to work, big brother is watching."

Buffy turned to see Angel making his way across the shop. She looked back to where Faith had been standing to say something, but she was already gone. "Great" Buffy mumbled to herself. "I wonder what else I did wrong today."

"Hey, Buffy." Angel greeted her as he sat down in the car beside her.

"Hey." Buffy returned as she wiped at something in the console of the car she was working on.

"You know you didn't have to work through your breaks today. Yeah, so you got off to a slow start this morning, you still deserve to take a break."

"I know, but I wanted to make sure that I got my work done for the day." She lied, not wanting Angel to know the truth about why she really didn't take her breaks. "It's not fair that I spent half of my morning slacking off while everyone else was busy busting their butts."

"We all have those days once in a while. Don't worry about it. I'm sure you will be back to normal tomorrow."

"Yeah, I guess." Buffy said getting out of the car to get the steam cleaner so she could clean the carpets in the car. When she returned, Angel was gone.

* * *

At the end of the work day, after the shop had been cleaned up, the group piled back in the van and headed for home. "Hey B," Faith said "We were talking at lunch today about going out for dinner, you wanna join us?"

Buffy shrugged her shoulders. She didn't feel up to hanging with the gang tonight. There were more important things that she had to take care of. "I don't know Faith, I'm not really feeling all that well today."

"Oh, come on. You need to come out and have some fun after all that work today." Faith said turning in her seat to face Spike and Gunn in the back. "What about you Spike? Have you made up your mind yet?"

"Actually, I think I am going to stay in tonight. I have to start deciding on what I want to do after I leave at the end of the week."

A twinge of pain and guilt coursed through Buffy's heart, but she kept her emotions in check so no one would notice. It was because of her that Spike had decided to leave as soon as he was. If she hadn't been such a bitch to him then he might have decided to stay a little longer. This problem was going to have to be resolved as soon as possible.

"Well Angel, it looks like our dinner will be minus two guests." Faith announced before the group started to discuss where they were going to go for dinner.


	14. Chapter 13

Buffy sat on the sofa in the living room that everyone in the apartment building shared and watched as the group gathered to leave for dinner. She wished she were able to go with, but she knew that this would be her chance to try to resolve things with Spike without any interruptions. Thankfully, he had declined the invitation as well.

"Are you sure you don't want to join us?" Angel asked from the doorway as everyone left.

"No, I'm good. I think I am going to go up and crawl into bed. I feel drained." Buffy told him. She hadn't lied, she did feel drained, only it was more emotionally drained then physically.

"Okay, we shouldn't be too long. If you need anything I have my cell with, and don't worry about Spike. I made it clear that you weren't feeling well and that he shouldn't bother you. He said it wouldn't be a problem, he has things he needs to do, but if Captian Peroxide does make a nuisance of himself feel free to hit him over the head with a heavy blunt object."

Buffy smiled at his comment and watched as he followed the others out of the building. She waited a few minutes to be sure that they had all left then made her way upstairs to the end of the hall where Spike was staying.

* * *

Buffy knocked lightly on the door at first, not sure if she had the courage to do what she knew she had to. When she got no answer she knocked again, a little more boldly this time, but still there was no answer. After knocking one last time she waited for a minute for him to answer, when there was none she turned to go to her own room. Just as she started to walk away from the door she heard the knob turn and the creaking of the door as it opened. She turned around to face the door and her face turned a deep shade of crimson. At the opened door stood an almost naked Spike, the only thing covering him was a white bath towel. His bleach blond hair curled from being wet and water droplets were trailing down his face and bare chest. Buffy felt her mouth go dry and had forgotten what she was even doing there in the first place.

"Something I can do for you, pet?" Spike asked noticing her obvious embarassment.

"I...I...uh" Buffy stammered trying to find some form of words. She felt like a total ass now and wasn't sure that she was going to be able to talk to him, so she turned and made to leave, but Spike called after her.

"Wait. Don't go. Please. Stay. I'll go throw some clothes on. Just, don't run away again." Spike pleaded with her when he saw that she was about to run off. He didn't want her to go, he was surprised that she was even there in the first palce. He hadn't been very nice to her after their morning break, but she had pissed him off again, so he told Angel that she hadn't gotten much work done in retaliation. Faith had talked to him during their lunch break and had exlplained why Buffy had been less then thrilled about training him, that it didn't have anything to do with him on a personal level. He understood what she was saying, but he didn't want the explanation from Faith, he wanted it from Buffy.

Buffy decided not to go, but she wouldn't turn to look at him. She didn't need to see him in his towel clad state, that image was already burned into her brain. "Okay, I'll stay. I won't take up much of your time anyway." She replied quietly.

"You can take as much time as you want." Spike told her, hoping that she would stay for awhile, that she had read his letter, that she wanted to sit and talk about what has happened between them.

* * *

Spike walked out of his bedroom, dressed in black jeans and a black t-shirt. Buffy was sitting on the sofa waiting for him, trying to decide what she was going to say. Everything that she had planned on saying to him before he opened his door had vanished after seeing him fresh out of the shower.

"So, tell me, what brought you knocking on my door?" Spike asked as he sat down on the opposite end of the sofa in his apartment.

Buffy glanced over at him to make sure that he was descent then looked back down at the floor sighing heavily. "I just, I wanted to apologize for this morning at break. I didn't mean for my comment to sound so directed towards you. It didn't have anything to do with you." It was a partial lie, but she still wasn't sure she wanted him to know that she had read his letter. There were too many questions still going through her head about what he had told her and she didn't want to discuss it. "Faith said that she told you why I said it. She was telling you the truth. I'm not one for being the trainer. I like to do my work, get it done, and not have to worry about what any one else is doing. I just wanted you to know that."

"I understand. When Faith explained things to me I felt bad for ratting on you like that. I'm sorry if I got you in trouble. I just figured that you didn't want to show me the ropes because of our personal issues so I told my poof of a cousin that you hadn't gotten much done to get revenge."

"It's okay. There was no trouble and I deserved it."

Spike didn't say anything. Mentally he was disagreeing with her, but he couldn't seem to make himself speak. It wasn't like him to be unsure of what to say. Spike was assertive, always spoke his mind and didn't care what damage it did to any one else. Now, sitting here with his best friend from his childhood, from the time when he was truely happy, things were different. He didn't want to say the wrong things. He didn't want to hurt her. He didn't want her to run away. He didn't want to lose her again. Right now in this moment, he wasn't Spike, he was William. The little boy that had clung to Elizabeth's friendship as though his life had depended on it. The little boy that he thought had died. Finally he told her that she hadn't deserved it, but neither of them said anything after that.

Buffy and Spike sat in uncomfortable silence for a long while as both of them contemplated what to say next. Buffy had originally come to Spike to apologize and then afterwards she had planned on retreating to her room before any other conversation could begin. She didn't want to risk staying too long in fear that he would start to ask her questions about reading his letter. Now, however, she couldn't seem to find the courage to leave. 'Maybe I should tell him' She thought to herself. 'Maybe. But what do I say? Maybe I could just hint at it, not just tell him I read it.' Buffy turned to Spike and watched him intently for a few minutes before she took a deep breath to say something.

Spike had been deep in thought, trying to decide what to say next, what to say that wouldn't make her mad or upset. He had hoped that by now she would have read the letter he wrote to her. It might not have fixed things between them, but he had hoped that it would have at least made her understand what had happened, why he hadn't come back sooner and why he had reacted the way he had when he realized who she was. He was still finding it hard to believe that she had come to him and apologized. There was something different about the way she was acting compared to the last twenty four hours. Spike glanced to his left and noticed that she was watching him. He gave her a small smile and saw her draw in a deep breath.

"Spike" Buffy said cautiously, unsure if she should be doing this.

"Yeah, Pet." He replied hoping that she wasn't going to tell him that she was leaving to go back to her apartment.

"I just, I wanted to say thank you, for not calling my dad and telling him where I am. I know the way I left was rotten, but at the time it was the only thing I could think of to do. If I had told him that I wanted something different then he would have fought with me about it and I would have lost. I never meant to hurt him, but by me staying I was only hurting myself."

Spike was silent for a moment. He wasn't sure how to respond to her statement. He was still upset with her because she hadn't talked to her father in over a year, yet, he understood why she had run away. "It's not really my place to call him, it's yours. If you wish to go on hiding then that is your choice, but your father is..."

"Worried." Buffy finished for him. "I know. I'm just afraid of what will happen if I call him. I don't want him to make my decisions for me anymore. I want to be able to live my own life. If I knew for certain that he would respect what I wanted then I would call him."

"If I could promise you that he would do that, would you call him?"

"How can you be sure that he would?"

"Just let me call him. I can tell him that I found you that I know where you are and that you are being well taken care of. I'll talk to him for you, but I won't tell him where you are and that if he promises to let you do as you please, maybe you will call him yourself."

"I don't know, Spike."

"Buffy, do you miss your father?"

"Sometimes."

"Then let me call him."

"Spike."

"Yeah?"

"Xander and Willow, too?"

"If that's what you want, pet."

"That's what I want."

"Then I'll call them."

"When?"

"When you give me the word."

"Thank you."

"It's not a problem."

"Spike?" Buffy said again this time her voice more timid then the first.

"Yeah, Pet?"

"Why did you come back?"

"Because I made a promise."

"You didn't have to keep it."

"Yes, I did. I would have hated myself for the rest of my life if I hadn't."

"Why?"

"You were always there for me, luv. You didn't care that I was geeky little Willy. You were my best friend. I loved you. No one has ever been able to fill the hole in my heart that was created when I was taken away from you. There hasn't been a day since then that I haven't thought about you." Spike admitted as Buffy watched him through watery eyes. "Even when I was with Dru, I still thought about you. I told myself that I should move on, that you probably had, but I couldn't. Something just wouldn't let me let go."

"I held on for so long." Buffy whispered trying not to choke on her words as her emotions started to become more then she could handle.

"I know." Spike replied remembering his conversation with Faith the day before, but he said nothing else. Again silence filled the room.

* * *

The sound of the entrance door to the old hotel banged shut and Buffy jumped up from where she had been sitting. She turned to look at Spike who seemed to be deep in thought and hadn't noticed the sound that had come from downstairs. "Spike." Buffy said getting his attention and breaking him away from his thoughts. "I should probably be on my way."

"Right." Spike replied standing up as well. "Wouldn't want to give off the impression that we are getting along or anything like that."

Buffy sighed. She hadn't meant for him to take it like that. "Spike. It's not that. It's just, well, it could lead to a lot of questions I'm not ready for yet."

"Like what? From who?"

"Faith, mostly. She knows a lot about our past and what happened. I just don't feel like discussing this with her yet. I want us to work things out first."

"So you want to work things out?" Spike asked hope filling his heart.

"Maybe." Buffy replied walking towards the doorway to the hall. "I just, I need some time." Before Spike could say anything else Buffy walked out of his apartment.


	15. Chapter 14

Buffy could hear the voices of some of her roommates as they neared the top of the staircase. She wasn't in the mood to talk to anyone so she slipped into her apartment and shut the door before any of them saw her. Once she was safe in the comfort of her own place she went to her bedroom, slipped into pajamas and climbed into bed where she cried herself to sleep. The things Spike had said to her running through her mind.

"Mind if I come in for a visit?" Spike heard some one ask from the open door into his apartment.

He glanced over the back of the sofa to see Faith standing in the doorway. "Not in much of a mood for company." He stated as he turned around to face the wall in front of him.

Faith seemed to disregard his statement as she walked into his living room anyway. She walked over to the sofa and fell down into the spot where Buffy had just been sitting a few minutes before. She waited a minute to see if he would object and tell her to get out, but when he didn't she started to talk. "Man, you still upset about what happened with B today at the shop? I'm tellin' ya, you should just go and talk to her."

"No need for that." Spike said not looking at her.

"Why? Did something happen while we were out?"

"She came to me. She apologized for what happened."

"And?"

"And nothing."

"Nothing? You mean to tell me she came to you and all you did was let her apologize. You didn't try to talk to her?"

"I didn't have to."

"Meaning?"

"Just as it sounds."

"So you two worked things out?"

"Why are you here asking me this stuff? Shouldn't you be asking your friend instead?"

"Well, originally I would have, but when I got to her room the door was shut so I figured she didn't want to be bothered."

"You couldn't wait until she was free to ask her?"

Faith smiled at Spike's question. She could tell she was annoying him, maybe even pissing him off a little, but she didn't care. "Sorry. I kind of lack in the patience category. So did you work things out or not?"

Spike shook his head in disbelief. This woman certainly had to know everything. "Not really. She said that she needed time."

"Oh. Well I suppose you don't really have a choice in the matter then. If time is what she needs..."

"You know, I think I am ready to call it a night. Maybe we can talk about this later." Spike said cutting her off. He didn't mind talking to Faith, he just wasn't in the mood to discuss Buffy.

"Fine, I get the message. You don't want to talk." Faith said as she stood up and walked towards the door. "Okay, so I just have to ask this one last thing." She stated before she left the room. Spike looked at her, the fact that he was irritated clearly showing on his face, Faith pretended not to notice. "What was in that letter you gave to Buffy? I kept asking her and she refused to tell me. She said that she read it, but she wouldn't give up the details while we were at work." Faith watched as Spike's facial expression changed from irritated to confused. "She didn't tell you she read it, did she?" Faith could tell the answer was no. "Oh, boy, did I just really goof up." She muttered and then made a quick exit before he could respond.

Spike sat alone in his empty apartment as questions began to fill his mind. 'She read the letter, why didn't she say anything? She said that she needs time. Time for what and how much? I don't want to wait around here for ever to find out that she doesn't feel the same for me that I do for her. How do I feel? I loved her when we lived in Sunnydale, but it's been so long, could I still feel the same? Am I just holding on to the past? No, I don't think that's what it is. It's been too long, if that were the case, I would have let her go. Maybe I have to prove that to her. Maybe that's what she needs time for. But, can I prove it? I don't want to push her, but I have to know that I'm not wasting my time.'

* * *

Buffy's sleep was restless. Her dreams were filled with pain and sorrow and regret. She was haunted by the memories of her friends and family and what she had done to them when she had decided to run away. There were dreams of the day William told her that he was moving and what she had gone through after he left. Slowly her eyes opened. The new day was just beginning to dawn. Her bedroom was dimly lit, but as she looked around the room she could see the outline of another person sitting in the chair across from her bed. She didn't panic like her half sleeping mind told her she should. Instead, she listened to what her heart was telling her. "William?" She called out to him in a whisper, not even realizing she had used his given name.

Spike heard her whisper his name, his real name. It was the first time that she had used it since he had shown up in Los Angeles, and it made his heart jump. " 'Lizabeth?" He whispered back as he stood from the chair he was sitting in and walked over to her bed. When he was there he knelt down so he could be eye level with her.

She watched him as he walked towards her and came to rest on his knees at her bedside. She met and locked eyes with him. His blue eyes were intense even in the early morning light. Buffy was shocked when he reached out to brush a lock of hair away from her face, the touch of his fingertips across her temple sending shivers through her. He clasped his hands together and rested his chin on them. 'He almost looks as though he is praying.' She thought to herself just before he began to talk to her.

"I'm sorry." He whispered.

"Sorry? For what?" Buffy whispered back.

"For everything. Leaving. Being gone so long. Not coming back soon enough. The way I treated you when I got here. For not telling you. For what happened at work yesterday." He paused for a moment as he gave her a half smile. "For being here uninvited, watching you as you slept."

"How? How long have you been here?"

"A few hours. I couldn't sleep."

"But, why would you...?"

"Because I wanted to talk to you."

"You couldn't wait?"

"If I had waited it would have had to wait until tonight after work. I didn't want to wait." Spike admitted hoping that she wasn't mad at him for being there.

"Oh."

Silence filled the room for a few minutes.

"I am sorry." Spike told her again.

"You don't have to be. Some of it wasn't your fault and the rest was done for either a good reason or because of something that I started in the first place."

"I'm still sorry. I hurt you, I never wanted to do that."

"It doesn't matter any more."

"Why not?"

Before Buffy had a chance to answer him the loud beeping of her alram clock started. She pushed the button to off and looked back at Spike. "It just doesn't" She told him throwing the covers off of her and sitting up on the bed. "You should get out of here Spike, before some one is up and wandering the hall."

"Bugger them!" Spike exclaimed standing up. He didn't care about what the others thought. He wanted to talk to her, he wanted to know why the fact that he hurt her didn't matter anymore. "Let your soddin' friends think what they want. Tell me, Elizabeth, tell me why it doesn't matter any more."

"Please!" Buffy yelled as first then sighed and quieted her voice down, she hadn't meant to yell at him. "Please, Spike, don't call me that. That girl isn't alive any more. She died after you left her."

"But I'm here now."

"It doesn't matter. It's too late. I could never be her again. I'm not the person you remember me to be. It's been a long time, Spike, time changes people." Before the tears she was trying so desperately to hold back fell from her eyes Buffy ran into her bathroom and slammed the door shut. She could hear Spike muttering a variety of curse words as he left her apartment and she fell to her knees on the bathroom floor and cried.


	16. Chapter 15

"Tell Angel I'm not going to work today." Buffy said through the closed bathroom door.

"Are you okay?" Faith asked concern in her voice. It wasn't like Buffy to skip out on work.

"I'm fine. I just, I'm not feeling well. I think I just want to stay in bed for the day."

"Does this have to do with a certain Boy Wonder?" Faith asked knowing that Buffy more then likely wasn't sick.

"No, Faith. I just don't feel well."

"Come on B. I know you better then that. I tried to talk to him last night after we came back from dinner and he wasn't in much of a talking mood either. What happened?"

"It's nothing Faith. It has nothing to do with last night."

"Fine." Faith stated. "I'll tell Angel that you aren't coming to work."

"Is she okay?" Buffy heard Angel's voice in her bedroom now as well.

"Said she isn't feeling well." Faith's voice echoed through the door. "Maybe we should just let her stay home and rest."

"Buffy?" Angel called to her.

"Yeah?"

"Don't worry about it. If you aren't feeling well then just take the day off."

"Thanks Angel."

"Come on Faith." Angel said. "We better get going. We are short two people today from yesterday and we have just as much work to do."

"Who else isn't coming?" Buffy heard Faith ask, but she didn't hear Angel's reply.

* * *

Buffy waited a long while before she left her bathroom. She didn't want to chance coming out if anyone, besides whoever had also decided to take the day off, was still in the building. She grabbed a blanket off of her bed and went into the living room so she could watch television, hoping that it would take her mind off of the man that had been in her bedroom this morning. After flipping through the channels a dozen times she decided to just leave on a local news station. 'Maybe I can forget about my problems if I pay attention to some one else's' She thought as she made herself more comfortable. Needless to say it wasn't working. The events of the morning ran through her mind. 'Why was I being so stupid again?' She asked herself. 'He came to me and apologized for everything, even though he didn't have to. It wasn't his fault that he broke my heart, that was his father's doing. I shouldn't have taken it out on him. I don't know why I did.' Buffy lied to herself. She knew why she had said what she had that morning. That it didn't matter. That she wasn't the girl he left behind. It was because she was scared. She was afraid that they would get close again and he would leave again. He had already told everyone that he was leaving at the end of the week. Even now she knew that it was going to hurt to see him go again.

* * *

Around twelve thirty that afternoon Buffy's stomach had started to growl constantly. At first she couldn't figure out why, but when she thought about it she realized that she couldn't remember when the last time was that she ate. She had been so caught up in her problems that she hadn't even thought about food. She knew her fridge was empty so Buffy decided to venture downstairs to the community kitchen to see what was there to eat for lunch.

As she was finishing washing up her dishes from lunch Buffy thought that she had heard the front door close. When she checked the main living room there was no one to be seen. 'Maybe I'm just hearing things' She told herself then retreated to her apartment. Buffy went back to her sofa and as she sat down she noticed an envelope on the coffee table that hadn't been there before she went down for lunch. As she picked it up her hand began to shake when she saw her name written across the front in the same handwriting as the one she had gotten the day before. Only this time Buffy was written on it. At first she wasn't going to read it, she had a feeling it was going to be bad. Curiosity got the better of her and she opened it.

_Dear Buffy,_

_You're right. Time changes people. I can see that. You aren't the girl I left behind. I guess in a way I had hoped you would be, but deep down I knew better. Maybe that is why it took me so long to come back, because I knew you wouldn't be the same and I was afraid of what I would come back to. I should have stayed in England, that's where I am heading to now. By the end of the week I will be back there. I'm sorry I troubled you and I'm sorry for disruppting your happy life here. I just want you to know that even though things didn't go so well, I am glad that I had the chance to see you again. I talked to your father this morning and told him that I ran into you and that we had a little bit of a chance to talk. I told him that you are doing well and that you have friends with you that are taking good care of you. I didn't tell him where you were or what you were doing, but I told him that if he would let you live your life the way you want to then maybe you would call him yourself. Hank also said that he would pass on the message to your friends that you were okay. He wants you to call him Buffy. He wants to be able to talk to you, to hear your voice, to hear it from you that you are okay and that you are happy. He misses you. I missed you too. I only wish things had been different. I would have liked to stay here and build up the friendship that was taken away from us, maybe even something more. I love you. Take care of yourself._

_Love,_

_Spike_

Buffy threw the letter on the table scrambled from off the sofa and ran out of her apartment down the hall to where Spike was staying. "Spike?" Buffy called out to him once she had reached the open apartment door. She went inside and checked all of the rooms, but he was no where to be found. She opened the dresser drawers to see if any of his stuff was still there, but they were all empty. "No." Buffy said as she fell onto the bed where he had slept and cried until no more tears would come and she passed out.


	17. Chapter 16

"Buffy?" Faith's voice rang in Buffy's ears. "Buffy?" Faith's voice came through again, this time followed by a gentle shake.

"He's gone Faith." Buffy mumbled not wanting to open her eyes. Her head was pounding. "He's gone and he's not coming back."

"I know." Buffy felt the bed shift as Faith sat down. "Angel told me this morning after we had left for the shop. What happened?"

"I don't know. I thought that after last night we had at least started to straighten things out. I mean we didn't talk about much, but I told him that I wanted to work things out, that I just needed some time."

"Then what happened that you didn't want to come to work today? I know it had something to do with him, don't tell me that it didn't"

"He came to my room last night, he was there when I woke up."

"Did you...?"

"No." Buffy answered as she finally opened her eyes to look at her friend. He came in after I had fallen asleep. He said that he had been there for a few hours. When I asked him why he said that he wanted to talk to me and that he didn't want to wait until after work."

"What did he want to talk about?"

"He came to tell me that he was sorry for everything that had happened. That he was sorry that he had hurt me."

"And that was a bad thing?"

"No. What was bad was the way I acted. I told him that it didn't matter any more. Then my alarm went off and I told him that he should go before everyone else was up and roaming the hall. I guess he took it as I didn't want people to know that we were talking. He got upset and told me that he wanted to know why it didn't matter. He called me by my real name and I told him not to, that I'm not her any more, that she died after he left. He said that he was here now, but I told him that it was too late, that I couldn't be her again, that time changes people. I ran into the bathroom to hide so he couldn't see me cry and he left. That was the last time I talked to him. He left a letter for me while I was downstairs eating lunch. By the time I had read it he was already gone."

"I saw the letter when I came to see how you were doing." Faith admitted hoping that Buffy wouldn't get mad at her for reading it. "He said that he called your dad."

"Yeah."

"Are you going to call him?"

Buffy was silent as she thought about it. She did miss her father, even after everything he had put her through. 'Spike is right.' She thought to herself. 'I should call him, but maybe I can do better then that.' She looked at Faith and smiled. "No, I'm think I am going to go and visit."

"Buffy, are you sure about that? Are you sure that he won't try to take over your life again?"

"No," Buffy said standing up. "I believe that Spike was telling the truth, that my father told him the truth. He just wants to know that I am okay."

"When are you going?"

"I'm going to go and talk to Angel now. I owe it to Spike and my father to do this. I hurt them both, it's time to make it right with at least one of them."

"Do you want some one to go with you?"

"No. I'll be okay." Buffy told her as she walked out of the bedroom to go and find Angel.

* * *

"Angel?" Buffy called out from the doorway to his apartment.

"Hey." He said walking out of his bedroom into the living room. "Come on in. Are you feeling better?"

"I'm not really sure." Buffy replied as she walked into his apartment.

"You want something to eat?" Angel asked. Buffy only shook her head. "You can sit if you like."

"Actually, I don't really think this will take long."

"What's up?" He asked noticing the serious tone in her voice.

"I want to know how soon I can get a few days off."

"That depends on what for."

"I want to go home. I want to see my dad and my friends. I've been hidding out here long enough. It's time I face them and let them know where I have been and that I am okay."

"You can have them as soon as you are ready. If you want to go tomorrow, you can, but only if you tell me what's been going on. Ever since Captain Peroxide showed up here you haven't been yourself. You spent most of your time hiding out in your apartment and when you weren't, you weren't your normal cheery self. Did he do something to you?"

"Angel, he didn't do anything that I didn't deserve. Spike and I, well that is a whole long story that I don't really want to discuss. Maybe one of these days I will tell you, just not now."

"He left." Angel said quietly, some how he seemed to understand that there was something beyond the last few days between them, he just didn't know how much of something there was. "He said he was going back to England."

"I know." Buffy said turning to leave.

"Buffy, wait." Angel called after her. He knew that Spike leaving had hurt her. She stopped but didn't turn to face him. "Do you want me to stop him from leaving? I know where he went." Angel didn't like his cousin, but he couldn't stand to see Buffy hurting the way she was. He would do anything to make sure that she was happy and if that meant bringing Spike back then he would do it.

Buffy wanted to say yes, but she couldn't. She knew that if she said yes and he wouldn't stay then it would hurt her even more. "No. I'll be okay with out him. I survived this long." And with that she walked back to her apartment to start to pack her things so she could leave the next day for Sunnydale.

* * *

"So, you're going back." Faith said from the doorway of Buffy's bedroom as she watched her pack a suitcase.

"Yeah." Buffy replied with a sigh. She wanted to do this, but there was still a twinge of doubt running through her.

"Do you want me to go with? Angel said I could if you needed some one to go along."

"No, I'll be okay."

"Just promise me you won't let him tell you what to do when you go back there."

"I won't. I'll be back on Sunday. I promise."

"Are you going to see the gang while you are there?"

"I am. Not sure how they are going to respond to me after disappearing like that, but I am going to see them anyway."

"Tell them I said hi."

"I will."

"They will probably hate me once they find out that I'm the reason that you left."

"You aren't the reason that I left. I hated my life there and I wanted a change."

"Yeah, but I talked you into it."

Buffy laughed a little as she remembered the conversation that had been held on the phone the day that she decided to leave Sunnydale. "You're right. It was your fault. I'll be sure to tell them all that so I don't get all the blame."

"Thanks B." Faith joked. She wouldn't admit it to Buffy, but she was glad that she was finally going to stop hiding. She knew Buffy was happy here in Los Angeles, but she also knew that Buffy missed her family and friends from back home. "You'll call me if you have any trouble right?"

"Yes, Mom." Buffy said sarcastically as she zipped her suitcase closed. "Is there anything else I should know before I leave?"

"Well let's see, don't talk to strangers, always look both ways before you cross the street, don't..."

"Okay. Okay. I get the point." Buffy laughed.

"Good. Well, I should probably get going. You have an early wake up call and I have work tomorrow. Take it easy B. I'll see you on Sunday."

Buffy watched as Faith turned and walked away. 'Spike better have been right about all of this.' She thought to herself before she turned out her light and crawled into bed.


	18. Chapter 17

Buffy sat in her car a block away from her father's house as she tried to gain the courage to go and see him. Her thoughts lingered back to Spike. If he hadn't shown up she wouldn't be here right now, but she was glad that he had. She messed things up with him and because of it he was going back to England and she would probably never see him again. It upset her, but it made her realize something else. Her father was still here, and it was time to fix things with him before he too was gone. She put her car into drive and pulled up to the front of the house she had grown up in. With one final deep breath Buffy turned off the car and opened the door.

She wasn't sure if she should knock or if she should just walk in. After a brief debate in her mind, Buffy decided that knocking would be better, it would give her a little more time to think of what she would say.

"Elizabeth" Hank breathed out when he opened the door to see his daughter standing on his front porch. Before she had time to say anything he pulled her to him and hugged her tightly. "I've missed you so much. I'm sorry for what I did to you. I should have listened to you. When William called me and told me that he saw you, that you were doing good, I felt so relieved. I thought that I had pushed you away, pushed you into something that wasn't what you wanted."

"Daddy, it's okay." Buffy said pulling away. "I'm fine. I've been with friends this whole time. I'm sorry I left. I just, I needed a change. I wasn't happy."

"I know, and it was my fault. I shouldn't have pushed you..."

"Even still, I shouldn't have left like that." Buffy cut him off.

"It doesn't matter anymore. It's in the past. All that matters now is that you are here, and you are safe." Hank looked over Buffy's shoulder and glanced around the surrounding area.

"Are you looking for something?" Buffy saked noticing her father's searching eyes.

"No, I mean, I just thought that maybe William would have come home with you."

"Why would you think that Sp... I mean William would be coming with me?"

"I guess I figured that since he came back in search of you that the two of you would have spent some time together making up for what has been lost."

Buffy hung her head as her emotions passed through her eyes. For a moment she thought that she was going to cry but she managed to hold the tears back. Hank however noticed.

"Elizabeth, why don't you come inside and we can talk about what has happened." Hank suggested as he lead his daugter into the house.

"So for the past year you have been with Faith and Angel?" Hank asked as he and Buffy sat on the sofa together in the living room. Buffy nodded her head in response. "I'm glad you were with them. I remember that Faith wasn't exactly a good role model for you, but I also remember that you did a lot to change her ways. I don't know why I never thought to look for them and see if they had heard from you. I guess that doesn't really matter now. You said that you work for Angel, how is that going for you?"

"It's good, actually. I mean, I never saw myself detailing cars before, but I like my job. I like the people that I work with, we even all live together."

"Does he pay you well?"

"When you consider everything I guess you could say that he does. The pay itself isn't anything to brag about, but we all have free room and board and Angel provides lunch everyday. Every Saturday he would order out for every one and rent movies. If we ever got in a bind Angel was always there to help us out if he could. We don't have much to worry about."

"It sounds like you were well taken care of." Hank observed as he mentally thanked Angel for taking care of his little girl.

"We all are."

The two were silent for a moment as Hank debated whether or not to ask his next question. Curiosity got the better of him. "How did William find you?"

Buffy sighed at the question. Obviously Spike hadn't told her father very much. "To cut things down to the short version, Angel and Spike are cousins."

"Spike?"

"Sorry, that's his nickname. After so many changes and the things that happened I don't call him by his real name."

"And what happened?"

"It's a long story."

"Is there a short version?"

"Yeah, things didn't go well so he decided to go back to England."

"I'm sorry. I know how upset you were after he left when you were younger."

Buffy shrugged her shoulders as if it didn't matter. "I was, but a lot of time has passed since then."

"That doesn't mean that it doesn't still hurt."

"Maybe." Was Buffy's only reply.

* * *

After more catching up with her father, Buffy decided that she wanted to rest for awhile. The events of the past few days had worn her down and she felt that she just needed to take a short nap. She walked into her old bedroom to find that nothing had been changed since the day she left for college. 'I missed this place.' Buffy thought to herself as she crawled into her old bed and closed her eyes.

Living with Faith and Angel was great, but not as great as Sunnydale had been. Her life was here. It was where she had lived most of it. Her family and friends were here and she missed them all terribly. When she had first moved to Los Angeles Buffy had been home sick for the first month or so, but after some more time passed she had adjusted to life there. She had pushed the thoughts of her family and friends out of her mind and until now she hadn't realized just how much she missed being home. Buffy drifted off to sleep as fond memories of life in Sunnydale filled her mind.

"Elizabeth?" Hank's voice came from outside of her room. "Elizabeth, you have a phone call."

Buffy opened her eyes. The sun was beginning to set. "Who is it?" She asked as she rubbed the sleep from her eyes.

"They asked me not to tell you."

"Wonderful." Buffy mumbled as she picked up the phone on her nightstand. "I have it Daddy. Thank you." She called out to her father before she put the receiver to her ear. "Hello?"

"Hey Buffy" Came back through the phone in two different voices, but she was able to recognize them both.

"Willow? Xander? How did you guys know I was here?" Buffy asked sitting up in her bed, smiling, the sound of her friends voices filling her with joy.

"Your dad called us yesterday." Willow explained. "He said that someone ran into you somewhere and he told your dad that he would get you to call home. I called your dad earlier today to see if he had heard from you yet and he told me that you were here."

"Wills and I thought about just coming over, but Hank said you were sleeping so we waited for awhile and then decided to call and see if you were up." Xander said.

"I wasn't up, but Dad woke me up, so I am now. You guys wanna come over? I would really like to see you." Buffy admitted into the phone.

"Why don't we meet at the Bronze instead?" Willow suggested. "I think your dad said something about dinner being ready. You can meet us there when you are done eating."

"That sounds lilke a plan. I missed the Bronze. The clubs in L.A. are so big and loud, and crowded."

"You were in L.A.!" Willow exclaimed into the phone. "Hey, isn't that where Faith and Angel went after they both finished high school?"

"Yeah. That's who I've been with this past year."

"Oh. Well we can talk about that when we meet up later. You should go have dinner. We'll see you at the Bronze soon."

"I wouldn't miss it." Buffy said. The three wished their goodbyes and Buffy hung up the phone.

After trying not to rush through dinner with her father Buffy ran up to her room and changed so she could meet with her friends at the Bronze.


	19. Chapter 18

Buffy walked into the Bronze, her heart beating like crazy. It had been over a year since she was in the place, since she had deserted her friends. She was sure they would have all been mad at her for leaving and that she would have had to beg for forgiveness. After her brief conversation with them on the phone though she thought that maybe she wouldn't have to. She was sure that she would still have to do a lot of explaining and apologizing though.

As she passed through the crowd she saw a few familiar faces. Some of them smiled at her and she smiled back, others watched her criously. Buffy made her way to the bar first to get a drink before she found her friends. 'I'm probably going to need this before the night is over.' She thought to herself as she waited for the bartender to make her drink. Her eyes searched the club for the friends that she had missed while she was gone and found them sitting at their usual spot.

"Here you go." The bartender said from behind Buffy. She turned around to pick up her drink and then made her way across the Bronze to her friends.

"Mind if I join you?" She asked the four people already occupying the table. They all looked up at her and smiled.

"Hey Buffster." Xander was the first to greet her. "Nice to see you again. Pull up a chair."

Buffy grabbed an unoccupied chair from the next table, pulled it over to the one her friends were sitting at and sat down. "Hi everybody." Buffy said as she sat her drink on the table. The group returned her hello, but then sat in silence, none of them knowing exactly what to say to start the conversation.

"They are still mad at you, you know that right?" Anya, Xander's girlfriend finally stated as everyone's She had that annoying ability to say anthing without it bothering her what people thought. "I'm not. People sometimes just have to get away from their life. I've done it already. I completely understand."

"They aren't mad." Tara said quietly. She was Willow's girlfriend, and the complete opposite of Anya. "Maybe a little disappointed that she didn't tell them she was leaving or where she was after she left, but they aren't mad."

Buffy glanced at Willow and then at Xander. "It's okay if they are mad. I understand." She said just loud enough that she could be heard over the music. "I did a rotten thing. I know that. But that's why I am here now. Spike told me that Dad wanted me to call him, but I knew that it wouldn't be enough after what I did. That's why I'm here now. It was time for me to make things right."

"Spike? Who's Spike?" Xander asked.

"Spike is William." Buffy told him. "You remember William don't you?"

Xander looked thoughtful as he tried to remember who William was. "No."

"Yes you do." Willow spoke for the first time. "He was the boy that lived in the neighborhood that we always hung out with when we were little. He and Buffy had been best friends."

"Oh, that kid." Xander replied after another minute of thinking. "I never really liked him."

"Xander you didn't like any guy that hung out with us. Ever." Willow stated with a roll of her eyes. "How did he happen to run into you in L.A.? Is that where he has been since he left?" She asked directing her attention to Buffy for the first time since the conversation had begun. Willow had been upset that Buffy had left suddenly and hadn't told anyone where she was, but seeing her now, she couldn't stay mad at her. Besides, the topic of William was interesting, she knew Buffy had been heart broken when he had moved away.

"It's kind of a long story, but no, he hasn't been in L.A. since he left. He's been in England since he moved."

"Then what was he doing in Los Angeles?"

"It turns out that he and Angel are cousins. He was passing through and needed a place to stay so Angel's dad set him up with us."

"Did you know it was him when you saw him?"

"Actually, no. We found out who each other was by accident. It turns out that he had come back to the states looking for me. He was just in Sunnydale a few days ago. He talkedd to my father and tried to get in touch with Willow and Xander to see if they knew anything. When he couldn't find me he called his uncle who sent him to Angel's until he decided where he wanted to go."

"Oh!" Anya exclaimed. "That reminds me. Some tall sexy blonde guy had come to the apartment a few days ago looking for you Xander. He said that he wanted to talk to you about Buffy. Well he actually said Elizabeth Summers. I didn't tell him she went by another name, I mean he could have been a creep or something. I just told him that no one had talked to her in a year and that if he wanted to know everything he should talk to Buffy's father."

"You are only remembering this now?" Xander questioned his girlfriend.

"Well it's not like I remember everything. Besides, as soon as you came home you were giving me most pleasurable orgasms. How could anything else be more important?" Xander just shook his head at his girlfriends reasoning.

"So this guy, was it William?" Tara asked. She hadn't lived in Sunnydale when they were little, but the conclusion was easy to come to.

"Yeah. It was him. He had tried to find Willow as well, but her mom was reluctant to share any information with him." Buffy told the group. "So he went to my father and talked to him. He told him what happened."

"So he came back looking for you after all these years?" Willow wondered.

"Apparently. After what my father had told him though he didn't think that he would see me. Part of me wishes that he hadn't. The other part of me is glad that he did, or else I wouldn't be here."

"And where is he at?" Willow asked. She had missed william to for awhile after he left and would have liked to see him again.

"Honestly, I don't know. All I know is that by the end of the week he will be back in England."

"What happened? I thought that if he had come looking for you then he would have stuck around for a little bit when he found you. Did something happen?"

Buffy sighed. She really didn't want to be having this conversation any more. It was starting to make her heart break all over again. "Let's just say that people change, sometimes not for the better."

"Was he mean to you? Did he hurt you?" Xander asked trying to sound strong and manly, but not really achieving the effect.

"Maybe a little mean, but I deserved it. I started the whole mess. It's my fault that he decided to go back to England. I was a jerk to him. I treated him like he was worthless, like he didn't deserve to be around me. I chased him away." Buffy inhaled deeply as she fought the urge to cry. "I loved him." She told the group sitting at the table. Suddenly she wanted to talk to her friends, to get out the truth about everything. "When he came to tell me that he was leaving he told me that he would come back for me one day, when he was older. I held on to that hope for twelve years. I know I should have told you guys how much it actually hurt. I should have talked to you about it, but I couldn't. I talked to Faith instead." Buffy noticed the hurt expression on Willow's face. "I'm sorry. It was easier to tell Faith, because she didn't know him and she couldn't make excuses for him about why he hadn't come back yet. I used to wish on everyone of my birthdays that he would come back to see me that year. When I left, that was when I had finally lost all hope that he would be back."

"But he did come back." Tara stated. "What happened between the two of you?"

"Things didn't go as planned. We didn't recognize each other. We found out who the other was by accident. He figured it out first and was mad at me for leaving the way I did. He never told me who he was. I figured it out a short time later. When I found out that he knew and didn't tell me I blew up. From then on, I was rude to him. I guess he finally had enough and decided that it wasn't worth the trouble and went back to England."

"The two of you were so close when you were little. I didn't think that would happen." Willow's voice was sad and full of remorse for her friend.

"It was my fault. He was there and he was trying to hard to get me to talk to him. He apologized for everything, even things that weren't his fault. I wanted to be nice to him, to his friend again, maybe something more, but I was scared. He hurt me, and I know it wasn't his fault, but I was afraid that it would happen again. I wouldn't let him get close to me. I did everything to keep him away. I guess he finally had enough and he left. After everything I did not to get hurt again, it still did, just as much as it did the first time that he left me." Buffy couldn't hold her pain in any longer and burst into tears there at the table. Willow quickly wrapped her arms around her sobbing friend's shoulders and hugged her.

"Buffy, I'm sorry that it didn't work out." She whispered into her friends ear. "But, things will be okay. They will get better. I mean after all because of him you are here with all of us, right?"

Buffy smiled through her tears. Willow had always been good at bringing out the better points of a situation.

"Yeah." Buffy agreed with her as she pulled out of the hug and wiped the tears from her face. "I'm here with my friends. I missed you guys. I'm sorry I left you all like that."

"Hey, you're back here now. Why don't we just let what has happened in the past where it belongs." Xander said patting Buffy's hand.

"So tell us, Buffy, what have you been doing in Los Angeles?" Tara asked knowing that a change of topic was probably a good way to go.

The group of friends sat at the table in the Bronze and listened to Buffy's story of her life in L.A., after which she asked them what they had been doing since she had left. When they had finished catching up the group called it a night and headed off to home. They all promised to meet again the next day after Xander and Anya were finished with work and Willow and Tara had finished their classes at U.C. Sunnydale.

"Thank you Spike." Buffy whispered to her darkened bedroom as she crawled into her bed. "Thank you so much. I only wish you were here to see what you have done for me."


	20. Chapter 19

For the next two days Buffy spent her the day with her father who had taken time off to spend with her. At night she would go to the Bronze to hang out with her friends. She was happy that she had come back to Sunnydale instead of just calling. The more time she spent with the people she had left behind the more she regreted ever leaving in the first place.

On Friday morning the phone had rang just as Buffy was coming downstairs from her shower. Hank answered the phone before she got to it. "Hello Summers' residence...Yes...Yes that's true...Oh really? That's wonderful to hear...No. No, I won't...I think I can manage that...Okay. I'll see you soon...Goodbye."

"Who was that Daddy?" Buffy asked. Her father's phone conversation had been a good one apparently, judging by the smile on his face and she wanted to know what was going on.

"Oh, that was just the office. I have something I have to go and take care of. I'll only be gone a few hours. Why don't you go out and take a walk, explore the old neighborhood. The only thing you have done since you've been here is spend time with your old man at home and with your friends at the Bronze. Some things have changed. Why don't you take a look around?"

Buffy couldn't help but feel as though her father was trying to get her out of the house and to go and see something that was important. She just wasn't sure exactly what it was that she was supposed to be seeing. "Is there something in particular that I should be looking for while I am out?"

"No, not really. Just follow your heart dear. It will tell you what is important."

Buffy couldn't help but raise her eyebrow at her father's choice of words. "What's the deal Dad? There is something going on. What is it that I am supposed to be seeing while I am out?"

"Just go take a walk and get some air. I will be back in about three hours. When I get back what do you say about taking a trip to the mall?"

"That sounds great. I'll see you in a few." Buffy said giving Hank a kiss on the cheek. "Have fun at the office. Oh, and I'll be sure to take that walk."

"Okay honey."

'My dad must be crazy.' She thought to herself as she turned and walked back up to her room.

* * *

After pulling on a pair of sweat pants and a t-shirt and slipping on her sneakers she walked out the front door to go on her walk. Buffy stood on the front porch for a minute as she contemplated which direction she should head in. There was obviously something that she was supposed to look for, the only problem was that she didn't know where to go to see it. As she stood on the porch she remembered the day that little William had come to tell her that he was leaving. She remembered watching him as he walked away. After that day she wouldn't even walk past his house, it was just too painful. 'Maybe it's time that I face everything that I have been afraid of, everything that has caused me pain. I came back and faced my family and friends after I left them all. Now, maybe it is time to face the fact that he is actually gone and for good this time.' Buffy thought as she ventured off the porch and down the sidewalk towards where William had once lived.

As she walked by the playground where their parents had taken her and William she decided to stop. Buffy sat on one of the swings and thought back to the days when she used to chase William around threatening to beat him up because he had made a funny face at her or had pulled her hair. She remembered the picture that she had found in Spike's room, the same one that she had held on to, the one that told her the truth about who he was. She regreted going through his photo album that day. If she hadn't been so nosey things probably would have gone differently. It was too late to change that now. Her mother had offered to bring her to the playground several times after William had moved away, but she had always declined. The place held too many heartbreaking memories for. Now as she thought about them, they weren't heartbreaking any more. They were good, solid, happy memories. The type of memories that people would hold on to all their lives. Buffy smiled as she got up from the swing and continued her journey to where her best friend had lived.

Buffy was only two houses away from her destination when she began to feel as though she wasn't going to be able to go any further. She could see the sign in the front yard saying that the house was for sale. As she neared the yard she noticed that it actually wasn't for sale anymore. There was a magnetic sign attatched to it announcing that it had been sold. A look at the empty windows told her that no one was living in the there yet, so she decided to walk around the back of the house. She took in the sight before her as more memories flooded her mind, like the corner of the yard where William's parents would let him set up his small tent and she would come over and spend the night with him. They never slept on those nights. Instead they would stay up all night and try to scare each other with stories about ghosts and vampires.

She walked up on to the back the porch and peeked through the kitchen window. Memories of her and William helping Jenny bake cookies for the holidays filled her thoughts along with the dinners the two families would have together. She remembered the time she had run away from home because her parents had been arguing. Jenny had let her stay the night and promised that she wouldn't tell her parents that she was there. She knew that after she had left the room Jenny had called them right away to tell them that she was there and had asked to let her spend the night. She and William had camped out on his bedroom floor. It was that night when she knew that no one could ever make her feel the way William had. He had found every way possible to make her laugh and when that wasn't enough he had held her while she cried. He did everything for her and she had done everything she could for him. The kids at school used to pick on him because he wore glasses and his dad made him wear funny clothes. Elizabeth hadn't cared. She would stand up to them every time they would call him names or trip him in the halls. Eventually they started to call her names and make fun of her for hanging out with a geek, but it didn't bother her. All that mattered to her was that William was still her friend after it was all over.

Then Buffy remembered something else and walked down the sidewalk to the back of the yard. On the last block of cement was another fond memory from when she was little. She knelt down in the grass and traced the etching in the cement with her finger as she smiled. 'Lizzie & Willy Always' A tear rolled down Buffy's cheek at the memory of that day. After the concrete had been poured they had begged Jenny to let them write something in the wet cement. She hadn't been able to resist them. "This is a promise that we will always be together." William had told her as he wrote their names in the cement with a small stick. "Always." Elizabeth agreed. It was only two weeks before William had knocked on her door to tell her that he was moving.

"Maybe we aren't together anymore William, but you are still here. You will always be here." Buffy said to the cement then stood up. With one last look at the house she sighed heavily. "I'll miss you always. I love you. Goodbye William." And then she made her way home. She had faced the one place that she hadn't been able to go near in thirteen years. All though her heart hurt she felt better that she was able to come here and finally say goodbye.

* * *

"Elizabeth, are you home yet?" Hank called out to her as he walked through the front door.

"I'm in the living room Daddy." She called back.

"Did you have a nice walk this morning?"

"It was okay. I did something I needed to do while I was out."

"What was that?" Hank asked as he walked into the living room.

"I said goodbye to an old friend."

"Really? And who was that?"

"I think you know." Buffy said giving her father an accusing glance. "What exactly did you want me to see while I was out for a walk?"

"I didn't want you to see anything. I just wanted you to understand that just because some one is not here physically doesn't mean that you have lost them. They will always be there. You and William had an amazing friendship. The only ones that can destroy that are the two of you and only if you let it."

"But I already did destroy it."

"No, you didn't destroy it. Maybe gave it a blemish, but you haven't destroyed it, not completely. In order for that to happen you both have to destroy it. Trust me Elizabeth, William isn't gone forever. If he came back after all this time I don't think he is about to give up so easily."

"Daddy he went back to England. He's not here. I chased him away and I will never see him again."

"Fate brought you together this time and if it was meant to be then it will happen again. When I saw William a week ago he had been devastated that you weren't here. When I talked to him on the phone a few days ago and he told me that he had found you he was so happy. He never mentioned that things hadn't gone well with the two of you. Maybe he has gone back to England, but I don't think he will stay away. He just needs some time to sort things out, just like you. You realised what you have done. You know that you didn't treat him well and you know why you didn't. Give him some time and he will be back. He doesn't want to let you go any more then you did him. You may have said your goodbyes, but you still hold on to him. Now he just needs time to say his good byes to who you were and see that the person you are now is just as good if not better. He'll figure it out. I promise."

"I wish I could believe that, Daddy, but I don't think he is going to be back." Buffy looked up at her father a confused look on her face. "Wait. Do you know something that I don't know?"

"Like what?"

"I don't know you tell me. You're the one that told me to go on that walk. You knew the house was for sale didn't you?"

Hank sat down beside his daughter. "Yes, I knew it had been for sale. I was hoping that you were going to go there and see that."

"Why?"

"Because I wanted you to know that even though things change, even though things don't always go the way we want them to, good things can still come out of it."

"But what good has come out of me chasing him away."

"You came here didn't you?"

Buffy smiled at her father. "Yeah, I guess I did. It was because of him that I came here. I messed up, with both you and with him. He left before I had a chance to make things right, I didn't want that to happen with you."

"And it didn't. So what do you say about that shopping trip to the mall? I would like you to pick up something nice for tomorrow night to wear to dinner. You and I are going to be going out to eat with someone who is very imortant." Hank said changing the subject.

"Dinner? Someone imortant? Who?" Buffy asked excitedly.

"Well there will be quite a few of us actually. You, me, Willow, Tara, Xander, Anya, and a surprise guest."

"Can't you tell me who?" Buffy whined.

"No. I'm sorry that I can't. I want it to be a surprise, not even your friends know so don't go asking them."

"Is it someone from work?"

"I'm not going to answer any of your questions. Just go and get changed and we can go to the mall."

"Fine." Buffy pouted and got up from the sofa to do as her father had told her.

* * *

Later that day, after dragging her father through every store in the mall to find a dress that she really liked and everything to go with it, Buffy decided to call Los Angeles and check in with Faith and Angel. "Hey Faith." She greeted her friend when she answered the phone.

"Hey, B. How's Sunnydale?"

"It's good. I've been meeting the gang at the Bronze every night and hanging out with my dad during the day."

"How are things with your dad?"

"Things are good. He took the week off from work so he could spend time with me. Dad even took me on a shopping trip to the mall."

"So he hasn't been pushing you to do anything?"

"Nothing."

"So you'll still be coming home on Sunday?"

"Yeah, I'll be home then."

"I'll be sure to let Angel and the others know. But, Buffy, I have to run. We are all going out tonight to celebrate making it through a tough week."

"Okay Faith. Give everyone my love. I'll see you all on Sunday."

"Okay. Bye B."

"Bye." Buffy said then hung up the phone.

* * *

Buffy and her friends sat at their usual table at the Bronze that night. The club was packed to capacity. There were so many people that Buffy didn't even try to pay attention to anyone else in the club. The current topic of conversation was the dinner that was planned for the next night. "So are there any guesses as to who might be joining us tomorrow night?" Tara asked the group. They all shook their heads in response.

"Dad won't tell me anything. I even tried to get him to let some hints slip and he wouldn't do it. Today, at the mall when he took me to get a dress, I asked him if I should get something that said 'wild night out on the town' or 'conservative and profesional' he told me that it was my choice and I could wear whatever I want. I thought that if he had said profeesional then it would have been someone from work. Since he didn't I don't know if that is still an option."

"Maybe he has a girlfriend and he wants to introduce us to her." Xander suggested.

"Xander, why would he have all of us there if it was a girlfriend? I could see why he would want Buffy there, but not the rest of us." Willow objected.

"Do we even know if this person is male or female, young or old?" Anya asked. "Because if it is a female then I would have to agree with Xander that it is probably a girlfriend."

"We don't know." Buffy replied.

"Well we are all meeting at your house Buffy. Did your dad say that our guest would be as well?"

"He didn't say, Anya. He won't tell me anything."

"Oh, cause if they were coming to the house then I would say that it would definitely be a girlfriend."

"Hey! I have an idea." Xander claimed. "Why don't we go dance instead of wasting our time here trying to figure out the impossible?"

Everyone in the group agreed except for Buffy. "I think I'll stay here and keep our table company. Besides with all the people here we might lose our seats if we all go." It was a lame excuse, but Buffy didn't feel like dancing. The truth was that she was feeling like a fifth wheel in the group. Her friends protested, but after several failed attempts at talking her into joining them, Buffy watched them as they headed to the dance floor. 'If Spike were here I wouldn't feel like this.' She thought to herself. She sighed as she gave her brain a mental slap. Spike had been on her mind most of the day, thanks to her father telling her to take a walk that morning. She hadn't told her friends about what had happened, and had kept the fact that she was depressed hidden from them. There was no point in talking about it, there wasn't anything she could do. By now he was probably on his way back to England if not already there.

"There was this rumor going around that Buffy Summers was back in Sunnydale. Thought I would check it out for myself. From the way it looks, it wasn't a rumor." A voice came from behind Buffy, breaking her out of her thoughts. She smiled as she recognized the voice.

Buffy turned to face the man standing behind her. She hadn't expected to run into him, she didn't even know that he was in town. "Yeah, that's not a rumor, I'm really here. How have you been Riley?" She gestured for him to take a seat at the table with her so they could talk. He had been her only serious boyfriend, and even though things didn't work out between them, they had still been friends afterwards.

Riley sat down beside her and smiled, glad that she was still willing to talk to him. "I've been good. How about you? Are you okay? I heard about how you had taken off, did something happen?"

"I'm okay. I got a little stressed out and couldn't handle the pressure of my father so I skipped town and went to L.A. with Faith and Angel. After a year of being gone I finally got some sense knocked into me and I came back to see my dad and my friends. What about you? Why are you back in Sunnydale? I thought you were off on some mission for the government that last time that I had talked to you."

"I got some time off while an injury is healing so I thought I would swing through and say hi to a few people. Lucky for me it was while you were here."

"Yeah, well I'm only here until Sunday then it's back to L.A."

"What have you been doing there? You said Faith and Angel are there too?" Riley asked, obviously interested in what Buffy had been doing since the last time he had seen her. She could tell he was interested, he always was when it came to her, so she gave him the very broad version of the last year of her life. She left out the part about Spike and why she had actually come back to Sunnydale, but all the other big things she shared with him.


	21. Chapter 20

Buffy's eyes opened slowly to the bright afternoon sunshine that was streaming in her bedroom window. She felt the effects of a hangover in charge of her body and she groaned as she pulled her blanket over her head. It had been late when she had gotten home, somewhere between three and four that morning. She couldn't remember what time the others had left to go home, but she had stayed to talk with Riley and had even gotten the spirits up to dance with him a few times, but that was probably because the longer she sat and talked to him the more she had drank. She probably wouldn't have drank so much though if she hadn't been creeped out by the fact that it felt like someone was watching her all night long. Even when Riley had walked her home, since they had both had too much to drink and neither was able to drive, she had the feeling that someone was following her.

The phone on her nightstand began to ring and she pulled the covers tighter around her head trying to drown out the sound, hoping that her father would pick the phone up downstairs. After the fifth ring Buffy knew he wasn't going to answer. She tugged the covers off of her and picked up the phone. "Hello." She whimpered into the phone.

"Hey B. What took so long?" Faith's voice echoed in her ears making her head hurt even more.

"Faith, please not so loud." She moaned as her head throbbed.

"Partied a little too hard last night, huh?"

"It was really late when I got home last night. I was at the Bronze way too long."

"Really? I didn't think the gang hung out all night."

"They didn't, but Riley was there."

There was a breif silence on the other end of the line before Faith said, "Am I hearing things or did you just say that you were at the Bronze all night with Riley?"

"You aren't hearing things. Riley happens to be in town and we spent the night out."

"You didn't tell me you saw him when you called yesterday."

"That's because I only saw him last night."

"Just tell me you aren't going to get involved with him again."

"Faith you know that Riley and I both agreed that we are better off just being friends. That's all we ever were, even when we were dating."

"I know, but I had to make sure you weren't making the same mistake twice."

"I'm not." Buffy told her. "Is there something that I can do for you?"

"Actually, Angel wanted me to call you. He said that he wants you to take the next week off as well."

"What? Why?" Buffy was alarmed at this. She thought that maybe she had done something wrong and this was going to be her punishment, only she didn't think that she had done anything wrong.

"He said something about you should have more time in Sunnydale. Something about a few days not being enough to sort everything out that has happened. What that's all about I don't know. He also said that by you staying there this week too that you wouldn't have to make a trip back to Sunnydale next weekend as well."

"Why would I be coming back next weekend?"

"Oz and Devon have the band booked for a gig at the Bronze next weekend. Angel wants everyone to go."

"Really? That's so cool. So everyone is going to be coming to Sunnydale?"

"Yep, we'll all be there. From what Angel was saying we should be there about seven Friday night. The guys play at nine. You wanna meet at the Bronze at eight?"

"Sounds like a plan. I better get up and get myself motivated. Dad made dinner plans for tonight, which is in about," Buffy paused to look at the clock and groaned, " three hours, with us and the gang not to mention a surprise guest."

"Surprise guest, huh? That sounds like fun. Any ideas who it might be?"

"Not a clue. Dad has been extra careful not to let any hints slip."

"Well have fun. I'll see you on Friday."

"Yep, Friday." Buffy replied and hung up the phone. She slowly crawled out of bed and made her way to the bathroom to take a shower in hopes of making herself feel better. 'I can't believe I stayed out so late last night.' Buffy thought to herself as she showered. 'And with Riley at that. What was I thinking? I mean, yeah, I like Riley. We always got along great, but he never held my interest before. Maybe I am getting desperate. Faith used to always bug me about getting out more, maybe I should have listened. Then again, I don't think that was ever the problem. I go out, I just never meet anyone that catches my attention. Spike did that, even before I knew who he was. From the moment that I saw him, I was interested, I just refused to believe it. If I hadn't been I never would have left him into my apartment to talk. I never would have been curious about him. Why do I always get the picture after it's too late?'

* * *

While Buffy was drying her hair the phone rang again and she went to her bedroom to answer it. "Hello?...Oh, hey Willow...Late. Really really late...We just talked, and drank. A lot...No nothing like that. We were just catching up...Honest...No I'm not doing anything until dinner...Sure. Come on over. You and Tara can get ready for dinner here...Okay I'll see you guys in a little bit...Bye." Buffy hung up the phone and went downstairs. She found a note on the table by the phone from her father telling her that he didn't want to wake her, and that he had some things he had to do before dinner, but he should be home in plenty of time.

When Willow and Tara arrived at Buffy's they went up to her room to listen to the radio and talk. "What time are you leaving tomorrow?" Willow asked while Buffy rummaged through her makeup bag looking for what she wanted to put on for dinner.

"I'm not." She said in a matter of fact tone.

"You're not. You mean you're staying?" Willow questioned in surprise at her friend's answer.

"Well for another week anyway. Faith called earlier and said that Angel gave me another week off. She said he told her that a few days wasn't enough time for me to sort out everything that has happened. I thought it was. I came here and saw my father and all of you and apologized. I don't know what else he could be talking about. The only other bad thing that has happened I can't fix. Spike is back in England and I am here. There isn't anything I can do about that. But, besides all of that, some of the guys from L.A. have a band and they have a gig at the Bronze next weekend. Angel wants every one to be there. So, instead of me going back for a week then returning here, he just gave me another week off."

"That was nice of him." Tara commented. "If they are all coming next weekend, does that mean we will get to meet everyone?"

"If you want to. We made plans to meet at the Bronze at eight. If you guys want, you can meet us there."

"That sounds great. Do you want to go Willow?"

"Of course, I want to go. I haven't seen Faith and Angel since we graduated from high school. Besides then I can give them both hell for keeping Buffy away from us."

"Now, honey, don't cause any trouble." Tara scolded her.

"I'm not. I like them, and I'm glad that they were watching out for Buffy. It made me feel much better when she told us that she had been with them the entire time. At least I knew she was with good people." Willow told Tara then turned her attention back to Buffy. "So, Buffy, what are you wearing tonight?"

"Like I said last night." Buffy replied walking to her closet. "Dad took me out to buy a new dress. I wasn't exactly sure what to get so I picked this out." She removed the dress her father had bought for her the day before and held it up for her friends to see. It was a strappy black dress that was just above knee length. It could pass for either the professional look or the sexy night out look.

"Aww, Buffy, that will look so good on you." Willow said when she saw the dress. "If your father wants you to make a good impression on our dinner guest that will definitely do the trick."

"That's what I thought when I tried it on at the store." Buffy stated, then glanced at the clock. "We only have an hour left until dinner. Maybe we should get ready awhile." The other two agreed and the three of them began to get ready for their dinner date.

* * *

At quarter till five some one knocked on the door of the Summer's residence. Buffy went to answer the door and found Xander and Anya waiting patiently on the other side. "Wow, Buffy you look great." Xander told her as he stepped into the house.

"Yes, you look very nice." Anya added as she followed her boyfriend into the house. "Thanks guys. The two of you look good as well. I still can't believe my father has us all dressed up to go out for dinner. He didn't even say where we are going." Buffy paused for a moment as she remembered something. "Speaking of which, my father isn't even home yet."

"I knew there was something I wanted to ask you." Willow said as she and Tara joined the others downstairs. "I just forgot what it was. Where is your dad?"

Buffy shruged her shoulders. "I don't know. He left a note saying that he had some things he had to take care of before we went out and that he would be home in plenty of time, but I haven't heard anything from him. I hope he gets here soon."

"I'm sure he will be." Tara said trying to give Buffy some hope. "If he is going to be late I'm sure he will call to let you know." As if on cue the phone began to ring and Buffy ran to answer it.

"Hello?..Daddy where are you? We are all here and ready to leave...No, our guest is not here yet...Okay. We will...Bye." Buffy hung up the phone and joined the rest of her friends in the living room. "That was Dad. He is on his way here now. He also said that our guest should be here any minute and that when he gets here to invite him in and make him feel welcome. We are not supposed to give him a hard time, or should I say, _I'm _not supposed to give him a hard time."

"Well I guess that rules out the girlfriend theory." Xander observed. The rest of the group looked at him with questioning glances. "Buffy said that he would be here, to make him feel welcome. If it's a he then it obviously can't be a girlfriend." He explained.

Buffy laughed lightly at herself for not noticing that her father had told her that the person coming to dinner with them was a guy. "Geez am I blonde or what. I didn't even realize that my father did say he and I even repeated it." There was a knock on the door and Buffy glanced at the clock. "Five 'o clock. Right on time." She announced as she went to answer the door. "Maybe you all should just wait here." She told her friends when she saw that they all were going to follow her to the door. "We don't want to overwhelm this guy with a bunch of new faces and make him run away." They all whined in protest but stayed where they were.

Buffy inhaled deeply as she reached for the door knob, preparing to give their guest a warm welcome. She pulled the door open and as she focused on the man standing on her front porch her mouth dropped open and all thoughts in her mind came to a screeching halt. She tried to speak but words were impossible.


	22. Chapter 21

Okay so I pushed to have this chapter up as soon as I could since I was being evil with the whole cliffhanger thing. I really hadn't planned on doing that, but it was all I had finished, I am so sorry. I also hate the fact that it has been taking so long to update and that in turn you all have to wait. Please forgive me.

As for the reviews, thank you all so so much. I really enjoy writing this, but I have to admit that at times I get severe writer's block and I just want to give up. I had actually stopped working on this for awhile and concentrated more on all the crap going on with my life. But I knew I couldn't just let the story go. I owe it to all of you to finish this. Your reviews have inspired me to keep writing, Thank you all so much. Now, what you all have been waiting for.

* * *

He took in the sight before him. She was beautiful. Her hair hung in loose curls around her almost bare shoulders. The makeup she wore was light and natural. The black dress clinging to her small frame. He watched her as she stood before him in shock. She looked as though she were trying to say something, but couldn't seem to get the words out so he spoke first. "Hello, Buffy."

Buffy felt like she was going to cry as she looked at him, still not believing that he was standing there. He was dressed in black pants and a red button down shirt. His bleach blond curls gelled backed. "Spike?" Her voice was barely a whisper.

"I guess you could call me that if you really wanted to, but the locals usually call me William." He replied calmly.

"But, I...You were...?" Buffy stammered lacking the ability to form complete sentences.

"Going back to England?" He finished for her. "I was, but, got an invitation to go to dinner. Heard it was going to be a grand time. Couldn't say no." He tried to keep his voice calm and casual, as though seeing her again wasn't a big deal.

"You didn't leave for England because of a dinner invite?" Buffy asked him sarcastically.

"I was hungry when I was asked, my stomach answered for me." He was still trying to play it cool, but it was getting harder the longer he stood there and looked at her. "So, you gonna invite a bloke in, or do I have to stay out here on the porch like a bad little puppy?"

Buffy shook her head trying to clear the millions of thoughts that were flooding it. She could tell that his casual demeanor was just an act. It was clear to her, when she looked into his eyes, that he was trying not to show the way he truely felt. 'Well two can play at that game' She thought to herself. Buffy stepped to the side, "Please won't you come in." She told him using a profeesional hostess voice, and allowed him to enter into the house. "My father should be here shortly. The rest of our guests are in the living room. I'm sure you remember where it is or do you need me to show you the way?" Spike pointed in the direction of the living room as Buffy closed the door. "Then why don't you go and get acquainted with everyone. I have a few things to attend to. I will be joing you all in a few minutes."

Spike smiled to himself as he made his way to the living room. The night was definitely going to be interesting. Buffy watched him as he disappeared into the other room. She heard him say hello, specifically to Willow and Xander "Hey, Red. Whelp." Before she heard any more of the conversation Buffy ran up the stairs and into her bedroom.

* * *

Once she was inside she closed her bedroom door and let out a deep breath. "My father is going to pay for this one." She mumbled under her breath as she walked over to the mirror on her dresser. She wasn't mad at him for Spike being the surprise guest, but she was mad that he hadn't told her who it was. "If I had known I would have made sure I was the image of perfection before I answered the door. Not to mention I wouldn't have looked like a complete ass when I did." She checked her hair and make up in the mirror and sighed when she realized that she hadn't looked that bad at all. "Maybe I couldn't have done better even if I had known." There was a knock on her door. Without turning away from the mirror she said "Come in."

"Um, Buffy." Willow's voice came from behind her as she opened the door. "I was just checking to make sure you were okay."

"I'm fine Willow." She replied turning to look at her a huge smile on her face. "Why wouldn't I be?"

"Well I just wanted to make sure that you didn't have a freak heart attack after you came up here. You know, from being over joyed. You are over joyed aren't you?"

"No." Buffy stated.

"You're not?" Willow asked with disappointment.  
"No. Actually, I'm totally beyond that. I can't...Can you believe?..I mean, he's actually here. He didn't leave." Buffy ran over to Willow and squealed as she threw her arms around her hugging her tightly. "He didn't leave Willow. I have a chance to make things right."

"That's good and all, but Buffy," Willow said trying to push her friend off of her. "Air is starting to become an issue." When Buffy let go and took a step back Willow noticed the blond woman's eyes were teary.

"Sorry, I'm just so happy. I mean, I thought for sure he was gone, that I had missed my chance. But, he's here."

"Yes, and he is sitting down stairs waiting very impatiently, I might add, for you to come and join the rest of us."

"Impatiently? But at the door he acted like seeing me was an everyday thing. I could tell it was an act and all, maybe he finally broke down."

"Well he hasn't actually said anything, but you can tell that the only one he is interested in is you. He keeps watching the stairs. If I were you I wouldn't make him wait. Besides, I think maybe you're dad is here. I just heard the door close downstairs."

"Elizabeth!" Hank's yelled from the bottom of the staircase. "Are you ready to go?"

"Yeah, Dad. I'm ready." Buffy answered as she and Willow appeared at the top.

"Good. There is someone here I would like you to meet. We have another guest for dinner." He told her as he headed to the living room. "Everyone," Hank addressed the group of young people in the room. "I would like you to meet Crystal."

Buffy took in the sight of the older lady standing beside her father. She was slim, fairly attractive, her dark brown hair pulled back into a bun, she wore very little makeup, and she was stylish, yet professionally dressed. Buffy looked at her father and raised her eyebrows in question. Hank smiled back at her.

"Crystal, this is my daughter Elizabeth." Hank introduced her as he put his arm around his daughter's shoulders.

"It's a pleasure to meet you Elizabeth. Your father has told me so much about you." Crystal smiled at her. She seemed to be a very pleasant person and Buffy smiled back.

"Probably not very many good things, though." Buffy commented.

"Don't be silly. I have never heard your father say anything but nice things about you."

Buffy looked at her father and raised her eyebrows again. Hank gave her shoulders a light squeeze and removed his arm. "Crystal this is Willow, Tara, Xander, Anya, and William." He introduced the rest of the dinner party gesturing to each of them as he said their name. "And just to set the record straight before we go to dinner, Crystal and I are not dating, she works for me at the office. I asked her to come with tonight because, well the truth is everyone here has a date and I didn't want to feel like the odd man out in the group."

'A date?' Buffy thought to herself. 'I don't..' Her thoughts stopped as she looked across the room to where Spike was sitting. He was watching her a smile on his face. She smiled back at him. 'Somebody is really going to pay for setting me up like this.'

"Is everyone ready for dinner?" Hank asked. He was answered with a number of yes' and a "let's grub" from Xander. "Okay. Then let's head out. We are going to have to take two cars. Elizabeth, why don't you and William ride with Crystal and me. Xander can take the others with him in his car and follow us there."

Buffy nodded her head in agreement and watched as everyone stood from their seats to file out of the house. "After you." Spike gestured to Buffy when he was at her side. She smiled at him and walked out of the house.

* * *

"You know." Buffy said as she walked to the car, Spike by her side. "If you wanted a date all you had to do was ask."

"Funny, I was going to tell you the same thing." Spike replied opening the car door for Buffy.

"Just so you know." Buffy said as she got into the car. "I didn't ask for this." She tried to make herself sound serious, but there was a hint of laughter in her voice.

"Neither did I, Goldilocks." Spike told her mocking the same tone she had used then shut the door.

"Jerk." Buffy mumbled under her breath as Spike climbed in beside her.

"I heard that. You better play nice or I'm telling." Spike retorted.

"You always were a tattle tale."

"I was not."

"You were too."

"I bloody well was not."

"Yes, you were, and you always did that, too."

"Did what?"

"You always got mad when I was right and you were wrong."

"I did not."

"Yes you did. You would argue with me about something stupid. Then you would get mad because you knew I was right. Afterwards you would run and tell my parents I was being mean to you and I would get in trouble."

"I haven't the faintest idea what you are talking about." Spike said trying to hide the smile on his face. He knew she was right. He remembered several occasions in which little Elizabeth was sent to her room because he had told her parents she was being mean.

"You do too. Look you can't even keep that stupid grin of yours off your face."

"I sure hope the two of you aren't going to act this way through dinner." Hank's voice interrupted the two people in the back seat. Buffy and Spike had been so engrossed in their disagreement that they hadn't even noticed Cystal and Hank had entered the car or that Hank had started driving to the restaurant.

"Daddy, he started it." Buffy whined like a little girl.

"I did not. You called me a jerk." Spike also whined. It reminded Hank of the way the two of them had acted when they were little.

"Elizabeth tell William you are sorry and while you are at it you can apologize to Crystal as well for your behavior." He told her using the same stern voice he had used with her in these same situations when she was younger, only this time Buffy could see the corner of a smile on his face.

Buffy crossed her arms over her chest and huffed. "I'm sorry you had to listen to William's immature argueing, Crystal. But I'm not about to apologize to you, Willy." Buffy said emphazising the name she had called him when they were little. She knew he hadn't liked it then, but he had let her call him that anway, only because they were best friends. Now that he was older she figured he would hate it even more, especially with a nickname like Spike.

"Mr. Summers, please, tell her to stop." Spike whined again.

"Children, please. Elizabeth, if you don't stop tormenting William you are going straight to your room tonight. Do you understand me young lady." Hank scolded his daughter again trying to keep the laughter out of his voice.

"But, Daddy, that's not fair." Buffy whined.

"Elizabeth, please. Could you just try to behave yourself for once in your life." Hank said before apologizing to Crystal as he began to laugh. "I'm sorry. You'll have to forgive them. They were friends back when they were little. William moved away when Elizabeth was eight. This is the first time they have been together in awhile, atleast in a positive way. I suppose they are just making up for lost time."

Crystal laughed at Hank's statement and turned to face the couple in the back seat. "It's okay, Elizabeth. You don't have to worry about your father grounding you. I'll be sure to take care of him at work if he does."

Elizabeth smiled at Crystal. "Thanks. I like you." Buffy then turned to Spike and stuck her tongue out at him.

"Oh, you are going to pay for that one. Just you wait." Spike sneered at her.

"Please you can't take me. I am way out of your league, buddy."

"We'll just see about that after dinner."

"Bring it on Willy."

"Don't worry I will."

"Worry? Are you kidding me?"

"Are you two kidding me?" Hank interrupted them again. "Can the two of you honeslty carry on this way all night?"

"I'll stop when she does. She's the one that started it." Spike argued.

"I didn't start anything. You were the one that was threatening to be a tattle tale." Buffy argued back.

"You called me a jerk, and I didn't even do anything."

"Yes you did. You were being rude, and you called me Goldilocks."

"Yeah, I did, but..."

"Okay. Okay." Hank butted in one more time as he shut the car off. "Elizabeth, William we are here. Can we please try to act like civilized adults while we are eating dinner?"

"Yes Daddy." Buffy answered quickly.

"It won't be a problem Mr. Summers." Spike added.

"Good. Then let's eat." Hank said as he stepped out of the car followed by Spike.

Crystal turned in her seat to face Buffy again while they waited for Xander to park beside them. "He sure is something isn't he?" She asked.

"Who? My dad?" Buffy responded looking confused.

"No. William. I mean he must be really special to you. The way the two of you act, I bet you're really special to him as well."

"It's kind of a long story." Buffy replied not sure how to answer her.

"Maybe we can talk about it one day, over lunch or something."

"Yeah, that would be nice." Buffy agreed with a smile. She liked her and the thought of having someone else to talk to, someone older that didn't know anything about her past with William, was appealing.

Both Buffy and Crystal's car doors opened and they stepped out of the car to join the others. "May I escort a lady to dinner?" Spike asked offering his arm to Buffy.

"Only if you promise to be nice." Buffy replied placing her arm in his.

"I'll be nice, for now." Spike said then leaned a little closer so he could whisper in her ear. "But once dinner is over, I think all bets are off. Oh and by the way, I never did get a chance to tell you that you look absolutely mouthwatering tonight."

"You're a pig, Spike." Buffy hissed at him, but couldn't keep the smile from crossing her lips. 'Job well done.' She thought to herself as the group entered the restaurant.


End file.
